Need you now
by angellus08
Summary: INDEFINITE HIATUS.Damon's love for Elena was ruining too many lives and he wasn't going to let Caroline be one of those people... An angsty Daroline fic with a caroline pairing with a unusual guy... Will Damon lose his attitude to take Caroline back?
1. Chapter 1

_A/N- So I have always wanted to do something like this, Damon isn't the best at expressing his feelings and I wanted to write something where his cold and arrogant attitude would come in the way of him being happy... and of course with Caroline! duh! Ok now those who know me will say another love triangle? Seriously but this one isn't exactly like a triangle, just messed up situations... oh and I have paired Caroline with one of the most unusual guy, might be the 1__st__ time on fanfiction... let me know what you all think and if I should continue... REVIEW tc... _

**Chapter 1 **

"You're a whore" she told herself as she looked at herself in the bathroom mirror, she felt dirty, disgusted, despicable and tainted and so many more whorish adjectives. Her face was a mess, her life was a mess... her mascara was flowing down her face from all her crying, her hair was disheveled and standing up in all the places where he had tugged on it, her lips were red and sore from traveling all across his body, her cheeks rosy from the thrill and then consequent embarrassment, she smelt like him, like sex... she smelt like what she felt... a slut

"You're a whore Caroline Forbes" she repeated staring at the pathetic image in front of her, she was hiding... hiding from him, from herself and from everything she had done. She had to leave sometime, he would be waiting for her to come out, but she wasn't ready to leave, but she couldn't let him come in here looking for her... it was such a small room she could easily lose control again and let him have her for umpteenth time that day... no she had to face the music soon enough and then her phone started to ring

_Damon calling _

She winced reading the id and the tears came streaming down again, thank god she had taken her cell with her or he might have picked it up... answered Damon's call, but she deserved to be found out like this... she deserved it. She pressed ignore and stood up and started to walk out the bathroom door when her cell beeped again. She sighed, she didn't want to ignore his call again, but thankfully it was a message and from Damon... great

_Where are you? I haven't seen you in 4 days. Are you okay Barbie. Call me back. D _

Where was she, she was in a swanky hotel room... something De la Mar, she had no clue what that meant and she didn't care. She was not okay and she never would be, not after what she had been doing for a whole month... and she would not be calling him back, she would not be a coward and tell him what she did on his face. Slowly she opened the door and stepped out careful to not glance towards the bed, where she knew he was lounging if she got a look at his body again she didn't think she could stop herself from jumping him. How _did I not notice how hot he is for so long?_ She thought

She breathed deeply and evenly as she searched for her clothes, knowing full well he was watching her... he had told her once he loved watching her get ready, like she was some entertaining programme. She found her panties on the chair and put them on, weary of dressing in front of him, even though she had happily undressed some time back. She had promised herself that this would not happen again, she just wanted to get away from everything and feel just a little happy for even a few hours, that included getting drunk not getting fucked. _Who are you kidding? _She thought _you knew this would happen, you knew you have no control on his pull._ She had known very well what was going to happen in this little trip, yet she came in every way possible... she just needed to numb out and he was the perfect drug. She found her jeans and was about to put them on below his T-shirt that she was wearing

"I think I prefer my shirt on you" he said and she could tell he was smiling "Much better view"

She turned to look at him and saw him smiling, he was propped up on his elbows his chest gleaming in the dim light, his light brown hair shining and she wanted to run her fingers through them again "I'm sorry" she said meekly working madly to control her tears 

"Why are you sorry Caroline? I'm the one taking advantage of heartbroken girl, but I wouldn't do it if I didn't know that you wanted it too" he said getting off the bed and she looked away until she was sure he had put his shorts on

"I'm the one in a relationship" she said and he snorted

"That's what you call a relationship?" he mocked and her heart clenched in pain, he was right it wasn't a relationship

"But... but he's your... Damon is your best friend Ric" she said softly sitting on the edge of the bed, her clothes forgotten as the realization crept up on her... she hadn't just slept with some guy, she had slept with his best friend, the only way this could be worse was if she had slept with Stefan. _Don't be silly_ she thought _Damon would be happy you slept with Stefan, he would have Elena all to himself then_

Ric knelt down in front of her taking her hands in his and she didn't even protest "He's not my best friend"

"No"

"No"

"Then what?"

"He's not my best friend. He's my only friend" Ric said

She teared up again "That's even worse... what have I done?"

"You haven't done anything... this is his fault. Your only fault is that you refuse to leave him"

"We... we are the ones to blame her, mostly me"

"Don't" he said taking her face into his hands "How can you think that, after he told you on your face that he was just with you for the heck of it and that he still loves Elena, who happens to still be his brother's girlfriend."

"He did say he cares about me"

"You deserve much more than Caroline" he said softly and she smiled, she loved hearing her name with such love and affection

"I'm a whore... I deserve nothing more"

"No you're not" he said kissing her closed eye lid and she felt that all too familiar shiver run down her spine "You were a faithful girlfriend until you realized you were just something he was using to pass his time"

She wanted it deny it, say he was wrong, that Damon really did care about her and one day maybe could even love her. But she knew it wasn't the truth, he didn't care enough to even pretend he cared about her, he told her he will always love Elena without a hint of guilt and sadness in his face. Damon didn't want her, didn't give a crap about her, and here was a man who did, in the moments she was with him she felt pure bliss only to be ruined by the guilt later one... could she be happy with Ric? But she had already given so much of her heart to Damon... so many times and he had broken it every single time

"You used to be my teacher" she giggled as his lips caressed her neck

"Ah... we never had a class together, and that was three years ago... an-and... well age is just a number" he mumbled slightly embarrassed at being 10 years older than her, though he was sure he didn't look it.

She understood his insecurity and kissed him to indicate that she didn't care about his age, he made her feel good that's all that mattered. He smiled against lips and pulled back and smiled, how he had gone from making her feel like a whore to a girl with butterflies in her stomach she would never understand

"So if you're done with your tantrum, we are in Madeira and we haven't been to the beach... that's just wrong" he said and she laughed it sounded like something she would say not him

"Ok... But I want to tell Damon, I don't want to feel guilty anymore"

"We will... and since you've decided to let the Damon thing go I think I'll take you out for a date today, what do you think Forbes?" he asked tilting his head

"I would love that" she replied and went to take a shower and get dressed, without feeling like a slut. She already felt better... though there was pain to come and she knew it but still in this moment Caroline was happier than she had been in weeks.

He sat back down on the bed listening to her sing in the shower, he hadn't noticed she did that before and he wondered if Damon even noticed things like this, he was his friend sure but Damon's love for Elena was ruining too many lives and he wasn't going to let Caroline be one of those people. He could hear his phone vibrating in his jean pocket so he went to retrieve it and sighed when he saw Damon's name on it. He should ignore it, just let it be, let Caroline decide how to tell him... but he knew Damon would be hard on her and Ric was itching to lay one into Damon

"Hello Damon" he said as he answered the phone

"_Teach? I've been calling you for 3 days!"_

"What do you want to talk about?" Ric asked as Caroline walked out the bathroom door, a towel wrapped around her and looked at him curiously

"_I haven't seen you in a while"_

Caroline winced realizing he was talking to Damon and sat down on the bed

"Yeah so" Ric said

"_Do you know where Caroline is? She left 4 days back and now she won't pick up, she's being a drama queen again"_

"Yeah I know where she is" Ric answered and Caroline saw his expression darken in anger

"_You do? Where is she?"_

"She's right here?"

"_What do you mean?" Damon answered after a pause _

"As in we both left Lisbon together, we're in Madeira" Ric said putting a finger on his lips asking Caroline to not talk, and her eyes widened in fear as she realized what he was going to do

"_What are you two doing?"_

"Well we just had sex, and now we're going to the beach and then on a date" Ric said calmly "Caroline is done with you Damon, you can find another filler and don't worry I'll take care of her... not that you will" Ric added before he disconnected the phone and looked at Caroline crying silently

"You ready to go to the beach" he asked her with a smile and after a while she returned it, a weight lifted off her shoulders. She wasn't a whore anymore, she was just a girl having fun. And yet there was a part of her that wished that maybe just maybe losing her would make Damon realize what she meant to him, if she did even mean anything to him, because Caroline knew she could make Damon if he would just let her.

Caroline Forbes was in love, again with a man she could never truly have. But this time she had a Ric, and she hoped and prayed that the saying something is better than nothing was true after all.


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N- Here goes the second chapter... This one took long I know, I got halfway through and was stumped... But it's done now so please let me know what you'll all think, I was pleasantly surprised by the response for this Fic, more than 20 reviews for just the prologue made me very happy! And I write when I'm happy so you know what to do... __**wink**__! REVIEW tc... _

**Chapter 2 **

Damon stood frozen in his spot as the words slowly sunk in, _did Ric just say sex?_ He thought... _with Caroline?_ No it couldn't be... they wouldn't do something like that especially Caroline. He wouldn't put it past Ric, he clearly remembered the teacher telling him off for stringing along the blonde and he thought he saw a slight jealously in his friends face... but she would never do that, she was the model girlfriend's for fuck's sake. But then again, he knew what he heard and was it really that hard to believe that she had finally had enough, that is what Ric had said...'she's done with you'. _No _he though_t teach must have seduced her... god knows the girl's easy._

"Damon why are you standing like that?" Stefan said looking at his brother curiously. And that's when Damon realized he was literally frozen in place, so consumed by his thoughts that his hand with his cell was still by his ear and his other hand was clenched into a fist... the remnants of his shattered glass lying on the floor.

"And what's with the broken glass?" Elena said as she walked back into the living room from the terrace, where her and Stefan had been admiring the view. He remembered her saying something about how beautiful Lisbon is before he had called Alaric.

"Uh... I called Ric and Uhm" Damon stuttered not sure whether to tell or not, hell here was a chance to get some sympathy from Elena "And I'm just shocked" he added stepping outside the broken mess and poured himself another drink and turned to give his brother and his girlfriend the best sad Damon face he could.

"What... why what happened Damon?" Elena asked concerned and Stefan rolled his eyes. Damon had to control himself from smirking, Elena might have believed the poker face but his brother knew him too well to not know that Damon was acting

"I hadn't seen Caroline in days and I thought to ask Ric... you know coz they seemed to be friendly these days... and" he sighed deeply and tried to contort his face in as much pain as possible before continuing "Turns out Ric and Caroline are together... she cheated on me"

Elena gasped in shock and clasped a hand to her mouth and Stefan forehead clenched even harder and he seem worried... when was he not worried

"Oh my god... I can't believe it" Elena exclaimed and Damon nodded along with her

"What do you mean cheated Damon?" Stefan asked skeptically, Caroline was his best friend and he was sure she was in love with Damon... this didn't make sense

"As in had sex... fucked her brains out, that kind of thing. She had Ric break up with me for her" Damon snapped back annoyed. And as he said those words an image formed in his head... a vile, disgusting demonic image and he felt the monster stir inside his soul. It was not happy, it was not pleased, it was looking for blood, for an outlet to vent all its growing uneasiness at said image. He wanted to let it out and ravage anything and everything in sight until he could get that picture out of his head... anything anything to never have to see that again. He was annoyed at what he knew had happened, but he was annoyed at the fact that he cared so much about what had happened... this didn't make the monster any happier... Stefan's voice snapped him back to reality but he could still see it... so clearly... too clearly...

"You bastard" Stefan seethed and literally had to control himself from hitting his brother

"Stefan" Elena said angrily "How is this Damon's fault"

"Everything bad in Caroline's life is Damon's fault... at least she learned faster this time" Stefan said taking another step closer to Damon

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"That she had the guts to get out before you broke her completely... again" he hissed as he turned to look at Elena "This sad act is just for your benefit, he's treating you like an idiot... don't prove him right Elena." He added as he whipped around and started to walk towards the exit door of their joint apartment

"Where are you going?" Elena screeched

"I'm going to call Ric and see how Caroline's doing" he answered and was already out the door before Elena could say anything... _let Damon handle the screeching for once_ Stefan thought

"Ric! Thank god you picked up. I didn't think you would. How's Caroline?" Stefan said as he sat in his car and called Ric the first thing

"_Hey... we're just on our way to the beach" Ric said _

"Beach... which beach where are you two? Damon told us what happened?" Stefan asked and Ric could tell he was genuinely concerned about Caroline

"_We're in Madeira. Why what's wrong?"_

"No... I just wanted to check up on how's Caroline's doing?"

"_You're not mad at her?" _

"It's literally impossible to be mad at that girl" Stefan said and he could hear Ric laughing and repeating the same to Caroline "And only Damon is to blame here" he added and he could practically see Ric nodding

"_Here talk to Caroline " Ric said _

"_Hey Stef... how's it going?" she said_

Stefan could tell she sounded different, there were traces guilt that were never there before but also... she didn't sound as sad as she had for the past six months. "I'm bored without you here" he replied purposely not saying anything about Damon, there really was nothing to say

"_Liar" she said mischievously_

"No really I don't think I've smiled in 4 days" he said laughing, realizing how sad but true that was

She was silent for a second, and he heard her whispering something to Ric but it was soft even with his vampire hearing Stefan couldn't hear anything

"_Well why don't you come here then?" she finally said _

"Really? You guys wouldn't mind that?" he asked surprised. He really wanted to go, but didn't think that would be okay

"_Of course not. You think that would be okay with Elena though" she added and he could hear the sadness in her tone _

"Elena's not my boss... and I want to come, but you realize then Elena and Damon will be alone" he said cautiously

"_I don't care" she replied instantly and it was almost 70% true and this impressed Stefan, maybe Ric was good for her after all _

"Then I'll be there in a couple of hours" he stated and she squealed and Ric laughed... no doubt at her. Stefan disconnected a call took a long breath and started to drive, the thought that he had left his girlfriend alone with his brother only crossed his mind for Caroline's sake... that was not a good thing... not a good thing at all

"Are you okay Damon?" Elena asked, her big brown eyes boring into him

"Yeah I guess I'm fine..." he said confused, he was saying it, he knew he should be feeling it... then why did he have this relentless burning sensation in his stomach

"I'm sorry but I told you this would happen" Elena said softly and Damon was so engrossed in his thoughts that it didn't even register with him that she was talking to him

"Huh... what?" he said dazed

"I said I told you this would happen Damon... Caroline is just the kind of person who cheats" she said matter of factly

"Yeah" he said absent-mindedly. _No wait... what did she say, she's judging Caroline for cheating... when she kissed me... twice, while dating my brother_. "No wait Elena what do you mean?"

"Listen I've known Caroline since we were little" Elena defended she could see the sudden change in Damon's attitude "She's always tries to grab attention by doing things like this... she probably hopes that you will go running to take her back or something..." she finished lamely and she was thinking why Damon was acting so weird. 10 minutes back he didn't give a crap about what had happened but now he looked so torn and confused

"Yeah well good luck with that..." he snorted but stopped speaking when his phone started to buzz and zoomed over to it and flipped it open

"Don't answer if it's Caroline" Elena said immediately and Damon glared at her unexpectedly

"It's a message from Stefan" he said and his eyes suddenly darkened and his jaw clenched angrily when he read the message

_Going to Madeira to see Caroline and Ric... Don't know when we'll be back. Tell Elena. ;-) _

_That fucking git send me... Damon Salvatore a smiley... his nerve. And why the hell is he going to see my girlfriend..._ He thought _Wait... she broke up with me... damnit!_

"Damon what's wrong what did Stefan say" Elena said and she was actually scared... she hadn't seen Damon this angry in a long time

"He went to... to Madeira" he said through clenched teeth

"What and he just left me here?" Elena said already crying and Damon sighed audibly

"Leave me alone Elena... please just go." He yelled angrily and she didn't need to told twice, he was scaring her he knew but he just couldn't understand why the hell he was so damn angry

This was the golden chance he had been waiting for, St. Stefan had decided to leave his girlfriend all alone and Damon could play the perfect poor heartbroken guy and get on the good side of Elena like he had been trying to for so long... but then why... why could he think of nothing else but Caroline and Ric... his friend, all wrapped around each other in some godforsaken hotel. No he wasn't supposed to care... he wasn't supposed to be jealous and he definitely was not supposed to feel anything, yet at this moment he felt... well pretty much everything possible and damn it hurt.

By the time Stefan reached Madeira it was afternoon and everyone was leaving the beach, but he knew Caroline wouldn't leave. It was too hot for the normal humans but vampires weren't affected by it one bit, and he knew how much Caroline loved the water. He just felt a little sorry for Ric. He compelled a room for himself and then headed to the beach, and he heard her before he saw her. That laugh was the most unique thing about her, it could make anyone forget their problems and laugh with her. He spotted her and Ric in the water... and she was actually having fun squealing happily and splashing water like a little girl and Stefan thought it would be weird to see her and Ric like this, in a non friend way but it really wasn't. Ric didn't really fit the typical history teacher status, he was way more fun especially since they had moved to Portugal... and Stefan had always known that Ric had liked Caroline a little bit more than friend. They looked like any other normal couple on the beach, Ric didn't really look like a 30 year old guy in his trunks and surprisingly Caroline didn't look like a 20 year old in her purple polka dot bikini either.

Caroline turned around in the middle of splashing Ric with water, no doubt when she smelled Stefan and smiled happily and started running towards him

"Don't jump on me Care... I don't have any more clothes" Stefan warned, not that she listened to him not that he expected her to and gave him a big bear hug wetting all his clothes.

"We'll buy you new one's" she giggles from the crook of his neck "I'm so glad you came"

"How fast did you drive?" Ric asked suspiciously

"Vampire reflexes Ric, don't worry I didn't kill anyone. How are you not toasting?" Stefan added looking at Ric noticing the fact that he wasn't wincing in pain at the hot sand like every other human around them

"I had some of Caroline's blood" he replied laughing and Stefan was stunned

"Let's go swimming" Caroline said excitedly clapping her hands and Ric groaned

"Human here Caroline" he said pointing at himself and plopping down onto the beach towel and made himself comfortable "I'm done... or I won't have energy for _anything_ later on" he said wiggling his brows and Caroline giggled shyly and Stefan screwed up his face in such a way that it made him look 40 years old

"Ok fine Stefan will come with me then... oh don't give me that look Stefan, you can buy clothes from the hotel boutique... now chop chop" she said threateningly and he obliged by taking off his shirt and pants down to his boxers, he was sure if he didn't do it she would undress him herself. She turned and looked at Ric and said concerned and confused "You won't toast right?"

"No... If I feel toasty I'll go inside" he replied laughing heartily

"You're making fun of me aren't you?" she asked putting her hands on her hips looking like an old southern woman and Ric and Stefan both burst out laughing which did nothing to calm her anger and she screamed 'screw you both' and zooped into the water at vampire speed and that just made the both of them laugh even harder.

"Wait for me drama queen" Stefan yelled when they were done laughing and ran towards the water where a very angry Caroline awaited

"Yes Damon" Ric said airily as he finally answered the call.

Damon had called non-stop for 10 minutes thinking that if he was persistent Ric would eventually pick up, which he did.

"_So you don't even like me anymore" came back the witty reply _

"I never really liked you Damon" Ric lied "You were just a drinking buddy"

"_hmmm"_

"What hmmm" Ric said annoyed. Had he just called him for childish nonsense

"_Oh nothing... I was just thinking how smoking Barbie is looking in that purple bikini" Damon smirked _

"Yeah... wait... what the he... you're here aren't you?" Ric said through clenched teeth

"_I must say teach you have been hiding those abs behind that terrible cliché teacher attire of yours." _

"What are you doing here Damon?" Ric demanded as soon as he reached the hotel lobby and saw Damon standing by one of the window's looking outside

"I'm enjoying the view" Damon smirked and Ric followed his gaze out to where they could see Caroline and Stefan playing in the water blissfully unaware

"Why are you here?" Ric repeated

"I don't react well to people who take what's mine teach" he threatened turning to look at him not and his eyes were darkening, his face close to changing to its true form

"I'm not afraid of you and she's not some property you own" Ric countered back stepping closer to Damon

"Yes she is and you aren't going to take her" Damon said stepping right in front of Ric "Do you know how easy it would be for me to kill you now"

"If you keep saying 'I can kill you' every day it's going to lose its effect eventually" Stefan said as he and Caroline walked into the lobby. They had heard Damon, and Stefan wanted to come check on them, he didn't tell Caroline why but he was afraid Damon might lose it. Ric and Damon both snapped their heads to look at them and Ric groaned in frustration whereas Damon gave Caroline a slight smile and a hateful glare to his brother.

"What are you doing here Damon" Caroline asked curiously

"We need to talk Barbie" he replied

"She doesn't want to talk to you" Ric said angrily and looked at Caroline expectantly "Caroline?" he added softly

"What do you want to talk about Damon" she asked her voice hoarse and Ric and Damon groaned at the same time, they could tell she was about to cry. It made Damon angry that Ric could tell that and Ric was surprised that Damon even recognized that.

"Things that I won't talk about in front of teach" he replied scoffing at his friend

"Caroline just go upstairs... I'll deal with Damon" Ric sighed

"I know you're much older than her but you're not her father" Damon smirked at him and turned to Caroline his face turning soft immediately "Will you please just talk to me Caroline"

"I-I... not now Damon" she said determinedly

"Fine I'll wait" he shrugged

"Why don't you go back to Lisbon. You can talk when I come back"

"No I'm not leaving you here" he simply said

Stefan sighed audibly, he found it hard to believe that Damon just wanted to talk to Caroline, Damon was not the calm and collected type. Stefan decided to stick as close to Ric as possible in case Damon decided to go all vampire ninja on him... after all he came all the way over here, after he knew what had happened and that Stefan had left... and even though he had Elena all to himself... wait... Elena

"You left Elena alone?" Stefan said suddenly and Damon looked at him puzzled

"Uhmm she's not a child and she's not my responsibility" Damon said "She's your girlfriend not mine" he added with a smile

Caroline was looking at him weirdly and he knew why, she didn't expect that he would leave a chance to have Elena alone to come after her... he didn't quite believe it either. But before he knew what he was doing, he was already in the car driving with only thought in his head... he needed to talk to Caroline just one time

"I'm gonna go upstairs" Caroline said finally stuttering a little and clutched the towel closer to herself and started walking away and turned to see Ric glaring at Damon "Aren't you coming" she added giving a warning glare to Ric

He shrugged narrowed his eyes at Damon and followed her, but not before he saw Damon take a small step forward and he couldn't help but smile. When he saw the rage in Damon's face he knew he was right... for a second there Damon had thought Caroline was talking to him

Damon watched silently as they both walked towards the elevator, aware that his brother was staring at him. it had taken a lot of self-control to not snap at Ric... well what had he expected Caroline would beg for his forgiveness and wallow at his feet, well that would have made him happy... but that wouldn't be the Caroline he liked... wait he liked Caroline?

"I know I'm pretty Stefan, but please don't stare" he snapped irately

"Why did you leave Elena?" Stefan asked again

"Is there something wrong with your hearing?" Damon said turning to look at him

"Why are you here really Damon"

"I told you I want to talk to Barbie" Damon shrugged "Now since you're here make yourself useful... do you know which room they are staying in?" he added thoughtfully walking towards the reception counter

"Why?" Stefan asked skeptically

"So I can compel the room next to them" Damon said waving his hand at Stefan

"Why would you want to do that?"

"So I can interrupt them every time they try to have sex... Duh!"

"Damon Caroline broke up with you... Ric is good for her, I can see that and you..." Stefan started

"First of all... Ric broke up with me and not Caroline, and since I don't care what Ric says it doesn't count" Damon said "Secondly, I don't care if Ric is good for her, she's my girlfriend and I'm not a generous person"

"Damon you were using Caroline to while your time... don't hurt her more and just leave, you can always find some other girl" Stefan said angrily

"Well of course I can" Damon said smugly "But I want Barbie... and Ric is really ruining my buzz"

"So you just want Caroline when she decided to not want you anymore..." Stefan asked

Damon rolled his eyes and did his typical eyebrow wiggly thing and said "Whatever" though he looked like he was thinking a lot more than 'whatever'

"Damon... do you actually like Caroline" Stefan said slowly almost afraid of the answer

"Well of course I like her. I've been banging her for 6 months haven't I?"

"Damon! You know what I mean" Stefan warned

"Ah!" Damon sighed and turned to look towards the water again deep in thought "When was the last time you were happy Stefan... and I mean truly happy"

Stefan was surprised and answered after thinking for a while "When Lexi came to mystic falls... before you killed her that is" Damon rolled his eyes to that "What about you Damon?"

"Apart from when we were human, it was the day when Caroline said she loved me in her sleep" Damon said "And that same day Elena kissed me" he added deciding to finally tell Stefan and was shocked when Stefan nodded

"You knew?" Damon asked

"Not that she kissed you that day, but it doesn't surprise me" Stefan said sadly "What happened then"

"That day I went and told Caroline that I would always love Elena, and that she shouldn't hope for more... I-I think that's when she went to Ric" he added and Stefan could see the frustration on his face, frustration not on Ric or Caroline but on himself

"Why did you say that Damon... you know it's not true" Stefan said slowly

"I don't know" Damon said angrily banging his hand on the counter causing people to look at them "I didn't meant it, I really didn't... I've just wanted Elena for so long that... and I'm gonna kill teach for taking advantage of her"

"You broke her heart Damon" Stefan snapped "Twice... she gets to mend it the way she wants, and Ric cares about her we both know that"

"Whatever... I did this Stefan" Damon said sadly "I drove her straight to Ric and now I just have to fix it"

"Just because she loves you still doesn't mean you deserve her"

"That's for her to decide" Damon warned "But... will you help me Stefan? You're her best friend" Damon added extremely uncomfortable asking help from his brother

"If you're gonna be the jerk and hurt her again... no I won't so don't ask again"

"Then I'll just have to prove to you that I won't hurt her now won't I" Damon said simply and Stefan smiled and nodded at walked away... he liked this new attitude to Damon

Damon compelled the desk girl to give him the room Caroline and Ric were staying in and compelled himself the room next to them and went to the bar for his drink, even though it was mid afternoon... but hey he's Damon Salvatore if he doesn't drink then something is wrong. He knew he needed to make some drastic changes if he had to make Caroline believe him again, he wasn't planning on making this trip a typical Hollywood romance. He just wanted to let her know that for the first time ever, he really was sorry and realizing that she had left him showed him how he really felt. When he thought of Ric and her together he would be reeling in anger... he didn't have that affect when he saw Stefan kiss Elena anymore, he never realized it but somehow being a dick to Caroline and having her be nothing more than her usual lovable self to him, had made him get over Elena and somehow along the way develop something for Caroline ... he didn't quite know what that something was, but he knew for sure he wasn't giving her up to Ric or no one else for that matter. It would be hard that too he knew... he knew he needed help and there was only person who could help him. He really did not want to ask that person... then he reminded himself it was for Caroline and sighed and dialed the number

"_What do you want Damon" _

"Hello to you too! I need help" he grumbled

"Why would I ever help you?"

"Because it's for Caroline" he said simply and smiled the person across the phone sighed. Damon had won... which he did almost always. And he definitely did not plan on losing this time.


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N- Here goes chapter 3... I know I said I would upload 'the best mistake' first, but it was just flowing for this one. Lol anyway... there is a flashback in this chapter and there will be another one or two... and I know you'all have been waiting for a D/C interaction will happen next chapter... it will be a long and heartfelt one but this one was for plot I hope you like it though. Please let me know what you think... REVIEW tc... _

**Chapter 3 **

_*Flashback*_

"_So... what do you think" Caroline asked grinning widely "The blue or the red" she was dangling two dresses off of herself, having just explained the 'look' that each would give her and was waiting for Damon to chose _

"_Huh... what?" Damon said startled _

"_You're not listening to me" she said angrily _

"_Of course I'm not listening to you, I have neither the time nor the energy to listen to your nonsense" he snapped back. He was sprawled across his bed, his feet bent at the knees barely touching the ground. "What does it matter Barbie... you're gonna look the same in every one of them... just go and put something on" he added angrily _

_She growled in frustration, even stomped her foot a little but calmed herself down and said "I've decided that I'm not going to be angry today, because you're finally taking me dancing! So you can say whatever you want... I'm going with the red one by the way" she added turning to look at him _

_He put a mock smile on his face and gave her two thumbs up, he knew he was patronizing her, she knew he was patronizing her and yet she gave him a flying kiss and went inside to change_

"_Hate that blonde" he mumbled "makes me go dancing" she had been begging him to go dancing with her for months... something about being in a Latin country made her want to get her salsa on. Damon Salvatore does not salsa... at all. Yesterday she had a tantrum about him not knowing what today was? What was it? it was their 5 month anniversary... she said it was a special say... he said he wanted to drink have sex and go to sleep. Somehow, just somehow she had nagged him into going for this thing when he could be doing so many other things. _

"_So how do I look" she said a few minutes later as she came out wearing a one shoulder sexy red cocktail dress... very salsa friendly indeed. She looked hot he thought like she always does... what's so different this time?_

"_You look the way you always do... one color from the other doesn't change your features you know. Though sometimes I forget you're a blonde" he added forebodingly and got up to face her and she was pouting, trying to cover up the hurt expression not that he couldn't see it... not that he really give a crap if she felt hurt. _

"_Come on let's go" she snapped angrily and he grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her closer and started kissing her neck. She giggled happily, she thought this was his way of apologizing... it really wasn't, he was just horny. He grabbed her waist brashly as he pushed her against the wall, removing one hand to grip her thigh which was so exposed thanks to her short dress. She moaned as he lightly bit her neck and crept his hands further up her dress... she laughed again slightly and he wanted to tell her to shut up and he was going to when she grabbed the hand that was near her underwear and pulled it away from her. _

_He looked up at her angrily, and she was smiling at him softly "We can do this later Damon... come on let's go. You promised we could go dancing today" _

_He did nothing but hiss in response and moved down to kissing her chest, taking his right hand back to where it was a second earlier and using his left hand to guide one of her hands down to his jeans. She whimpered against him, and tried to push him off _

"_No Damon..." she said angrily "I want to go dancing" he huffed and sighed against her chest and looked up changing his face to a softer sweeter look _

"_Caroline" he said smoothly in his silky voice _

"_Yes" she said smiling herself putting a hand to his cheek_

"_Just shut up and fuck me" he said harshly and went back to attack her neck and grabbed her by the hips and lifted her up giving her no choice but to wrap her legs around him. She loved the feel of his hands on her body, because she loved him. He... well he only loved her body and all the things he did to it. She didn't moan this time, she was working too hard to control her tears. _

_*End flashback*_

"_She called me that night you know" said a voice from the phone_

"Huh... what?" Damon muttered "Sorry witchy you started lecturing me, so I was ogling the hot red-head." Damon added smugly taking a swig from his drink. Bonnie had been lecturing him so he did phase out, but he wasn't checking out the girl next to him, bonnie had been telling him about all the rude and mean things he would say to Caroline and instinctively his mind jumped back to the memory of that night 2 months ago. He frowned internally, now that he replayed it in his head he had been pretty mean.

"_I said she called me that night" Bonnie said angrily _

"Which night... I messed up on many nights, you're gonna have to be more specific"

"_The night you declared your undying love for Elena" Bonnie snapped back _

Damon winced and simply said "Oh"

"_She called me from Ric's house" Bonnie continued and she could hear the slow grumble that left Damon "I think that's the first time she went to him, she told me what you told her, she told me she loved you... not that I didn't already know that. You broke her that night Damon... and I told her that she should just leave you and see where it goes with Ric"_

"So wait... you didn't judge her for cheating?" Damon asked annoyed

"_I would never judge anyone for cheating on you... might throw them a party but no judging whatsoever" Bonnie smirked internally as she said that "You know that Caroline's dad cheated on her mom before he left right? _

"What does that have to do with anything" Damon asked confused

"_Since that day Caroline had despised any form of cheating, even if I told Elena a secret before her she would consider that me cheating on our friendship. You know what she said to me that day?"_

"What?" Damon said slowly dreading every word out the witch's mouth

"_She said she didn't regret that hour she spent with Ric, because it was the only time in years she felt needed and wanted. That for the first time she felt she was with someone who wanted her and not someone else... and you have to understand with Caroline everyone has always wanted someone else. Damon you made it worse because you're the only one she truly fell in love with. You broke her so bad that feeling like a whore was better than feeling like your stand-by girlfriend." _

"What exactly do you want me to say that?" Damon asked annoyed, how was he supposed to react to that... he didn't want to feel worse than he already did

"_I'm trying to make my argument for why I won't help you. She's loved you since she was human, and I don't think she ever stopped. She would keep telling me that if you would just give her chance she knew she could make you happy"_

"Fine Bonnie... I fucked-up royally so... I'm the biggest jerk face on the planet and I hate that I did those things, or said those things... but I want to change now and I want her away from that teacher... now please... notice that I'm saying please, help me Bonnie" Damon said irately and honestly

"_He's good for her Damon, I knew he liked her before I left for work. Caroline has been damaged by you enough now leave her be... me and Stefan and Ric will take care of her" Bonnie said finitely _

"Did you not hear... I said I want to change" Damon repeated angrily

"_Yeah, you wanted to change when Stefan left with Klaus and when he came back, then you wanted to change to prove to Elena you were worth her love and blah blah blah... you only want to change Damon, but you never do so..." _

"Bonnie what do I have to do to make you believe me... wait I know. Ok so St. Stefan left to go see his best friend and left his girlfriend ... that's Elena by the way all alone with me. And yet here I am sitting in a bar in some hotel in Madeira trying to not think of what might be happening in Barbie's room upstairs... I don't want Elena, I know it took too long to understand that but I don't... I want a chance with Bar-Caroline" Damon said grumblingly, he did not want to say all these things to Bonnie but he was desperate

"_Is that true?" Bonnie asked skeptically and Damon could hear the surprise in her tone _

"You can call Elena and ask if you want..."

"_That's not something I expected jerk Damon to do" Bonnie said after a while _

"That's what I mean Bonnie... why don't you come here and see for yourself, and if and only if you think I've changed you can help me... I know you want Caroline to be happy and she loves _me_... not teach"

"_I don't know Damon"_

"Come on a paid vacation and you get to see Barbie. She would be really happy to see you, especially now I mean Stefan is a good friend and all but he's no Bonnie for her..." Damon said coyly knowing that this would get to her

"_Fine... I'll come to Madeira, but I'm coming for the beach and Caroline not you. And I haven't decided to help you yet...so remember that I'm team Ric" she said sternly _

"What is this twilight? Hot vampire stud v/s human teacher?" Damon joked

"_No it's the eternal screw-up v/s the guy who won't break your heart" Bonnie snapped back and Damon couldn't help but laugh... not being in contact with Elena had made her a much funnier person_

"Whatever... just make sure when you get here tell Barbie _I_ convinced you to come here" Damon said

"_Hmmm... Damon there is something else you should know" Bonnie said thoughtfully _

"What?" he asked

"_When Caroline told me she slept with Ric, I told her to break up with you and she said she could never leave you, despite the Elena comment. But she said she would tell you about the cheating so you could break up with her... that way and I quote Caroline "I will be the one at fault and he won't have to hear anything from anyone" even after the number of times you hurt her, she is literally incapable of hurting you" Bonnie said _

"Bonnie can you do me a favor" Damon said softly grasping the glass in his hands too tightly "Don't tell me things like this anymore... please, I can't take It." he added and Bonnie could hear the pain and hurt in his voice

"_Okay Damon I'll see you there" she said and hung up _

Damon sighed loudly finished his drink and was positively dreading going upstairs. He didn't want to think about what was happening, he didn't want to know all the things Caroline had done for him despite him being _him_ to her all along... he didn't want believe Stefan... he didn't want to know that he didn't deserve her. But he really didn't care, he was a selfish man and he wouldn't have it any other way, whether anyone believed him or not... he wasn't going to let this get away from him... let her get away from him.

Damon went back to his room after an hour, which was thankfully next to Caroline's room or he would have been going crazy thinking about what was happening. He didn't hear anything alarming until night, they were just talking and laughing and then sometime in the evening Caroline threw Ric out so she could get dressed for their date, Ric grumbled and said something about hanging out with Stefan and was clearly not happy about having to leave. Damon considered going to talk to her when she was alone, but he didn't want to push himself on her and invading his personal space before a date night would probably just prove to her that he was a jerk after all. So he decided to do nothing at all and watched tv and drowned his sorrows in alcohol until he heard them come back from their date. A really really big part of him wished that Ric messed up on their date, but that was wishful thinking he knew that... teacher or not Ric had always been a charmer and as once upon a time wing-man Damon knew how good he was.

They were laughing, well Ric was laughing Caroline was giggling as he heard them open the front door to their suite, and Damon was tensed, literally his hands clenched into fists and his face stony and determined. It seemed innocent, at first at least that was before he heard the heavy breathing and Caroline's soft moans and he couldn't take it anymore... he shouldn't be interrupting he knew it but... hell who said this was going to be a fair game. He was not going to sit here and listen to them have sex.

Damon knocked once. No answer

Damon knocked twice. Again no answer

Damon heard another moan from Caroline and it sounded a lot more intimate... a lot more dangerous. He knocked again... no answer

Damon heard the unmistakable sound of a jean zipper, and he had had enough.

Damon thumped hard on the door and didn't stop his pounding until he heard a frustrated sigh from Ric's mouth. He stopped his assault on the door and fixed a characteristic smirk on his face, which only grew smirkier when Ric opened the door with a scowl on his face and no shirt... but jeans intact. Disaster averted. Phew!

"What do you want Damon?" Ric said angrily glazing a hand through his messed up hair

"Oh sorry to interrupt" he replied kindly and Ric scowled at him knowingly "I just wanted to tell Caroline that they are booking seats for tomorrows Dolphin and Whale boat trip and if you guys don't register now there won't be place left. And I know how much Caroline loves dolphin's" Damon added for effect praying Caroline was listening to their conversation

"Caroline likes dolphins" Ric asked unsure himself if it was a question or a statement

"Uh yeah... she has like 3 dolphin necklaces and at least 5 Pj's" Damon said smugly and again Ric was surprised and pissed that Damon knew this

"Whatever Damon we're... are you going?" he asked suspiciously changing track halfway

"Yeah I am... only to make sure Stefan doesn't snack on the poor creatures... they're too intelligent to be killed" Damon said and smirked heavily when he heard a soft chuckle from Caroline inside

Ric mumbled something incoherently and snapped a 'goodbye Damon' before he slammed the door shut and walked back in to the bedroom to find Caroline sitting up on the bed still half clothed with a guilty smile on her face

"He's just trying to push your buttons" she said as she collapsed back onto the bed and felt the bed creak slightly as he climbed onto it and crawled over her

"No... I think he's trying to push your buttons" he said decisively placing a soft kiss on her jaw and moving down to her neck

"You're the one pissed off... I'm fine" Caroline laughed

"You have too much practice in that department"

"That was one hell of a date... I have always wanted to go dancing, who knew you could dance" she added enthusiastically as she tugged on his hair and he moved lower down on her

"There are a lot of things you don't know about me Caroline" he sighed and added "And apparently a lot of things I don't know about you... you want to see the dolphins don't you?" he looked up from her stomach and gave her a smile which she returned slowly

"If you don't want to its okay" she said firmly

"What's one cruise..." he replied airily pushing himself up over her and rolled onto his side propping his head on his elbow and looked at her "We can go... but jerky is right we have to register soon"

"Are you sure" she asked timidly and squealed happily when he nodded. He couldn't help but laugh at her

"Fine come on let's go" he grumbled and they got off and got dressed

Caroline booked two seats for herself and Ric and smiled when she saw the two seats for Stefan and Damon already written down. After they were done Ric went to the bar to sit with Stefan and Caroline went to the boutique to find some clothes for Stefan like she had promised, he looked odd sitting in the island bar with just jeans and no shirt on. Not that she minded, or any other girl for that matter but it would rude to delay her shopping just to gawk at him. She searched through the clothes at the shop and was positively glowing at how pissed Stefan was going to be, light blue, blue, red, green, yellow... yes yellow and pink, not the gaudy shocking pink but a softer one. Stefan would look so hot in pink.

"Are you trying to force my brother into wearing no shirt all the time" Damon's cocky voice travelled from behind her as she was trying to pick between two pick shirts

"Huh... what?" she said confused

"If you buy him pink and yellow, he'll just go bare-chested all the time" Damon added rolling his eyes

"I took one white" she said sheepishly holding it up and he laughed heartily

"Still won't work" he pursed his lips

"Then I guess I get gawk at him" she said shyly and turned around to pay for the clothes

"Caroline can we talk" Damon said softly and if not for her hearing she would never have heard it

"Damon... I'm sorry I cheated on..." she began feeling the tears creep up on her

"You don't have to be sorry about anything Caroline" Damon said annoyed "I just... I just want to say something's to you. I need to say them, so please listen to me."

She looked at him intently and saw an honest and desperate expression on his face, something she hadn't seen since the day he found out Stefan had left with Klaus. She was afraid of what he would say, call her a whore... a slut, but who was she kidding maybe she deserved it. She took a deep breath and made her decision

"Okay Damon" she said softly, she wanted to get it over with, and she just wanted her Damon saga to end so she could pick up the pieces of her life.

"Let's go for a walk on the beach and I..." he smiled before he was interrupted by the loud shriek of 'Caroline' coming from outside the store

Caroline turned abruptly and her jaw fell open when she saw Bonnie standing there.

"Bonnie" she mouthed through the glass and her best friend rushed in and shoved a angry and frustrated Damon aside and flung her hands over her blonde friend

"Care... it's so good to see you. God have I missed you" Bonnie said excitedly and was pulled back by Damon when he grabbed her hand

"Yes... yes you can have the emo reunion later... me and Barbie are going for a walk" Damon said astutely and Bonnie glared at him

"I just got here Damon, and what do you mean walk" she said looking at Caroline suspiciously

"Damon just wanted to talk so we were going to..." Caroline began

"Not we _were_ going to... we are going... like now" he cut her across and grabbed Caroline by the arm but dropped it immediately when he saw Bonnie narrow his eyes at him. As much as he wanted to talk to Caroline he did not want an aneurism... period

"Fine you can go" Bonnie said bossily "But me and care are gonna have some girl time later. So make sure you tell Ric that too, coz this one I can give a brain bleed" she said pointing at Damon "Ric I'll have to resort to messing with his anatomy or something... and it won't be pretty" she added laughing and Caroline giggled along with her

Damon smirked, Bonnie had grown far too entertaining in the past 2 years to not like, as much as he hated the little witch she had finally found a personality apart from judgy and witchy.

"I'll go tell Ric you're here and that we're going for a walk" she said turning to Damon and he groaned. Why does she have to tell him anything? Damon laughed again looking at the shirts she had picked from Stefan, making a mental note to be present when she showed it to him

"Damon if she comes back crying from your walk..." Bonnie threatened as soon as Caroline left the store

"Yes I know, brain bleed... aneurisms... just don't do anything to you know..." he said arrogantly looking down at his pants and Bonnie snorted

"Oh btw Damon... just so you know Elena called me, coz apparently none of you are picking up her calls" Bonnie said angrily, she did not like speaking to Elena and Damon pinched his nose "I was at the airport and she heard the announcements, I don't think she know I came here... but you know a bored Elena is a troubled Elena so... I wouldn't be surprised she shows up here" Bonnie concluded

Damon groaned angrily and said "I'll worry about her later... first I have to talk to Barbie without interruptions. So my dear witch you have to make sure Ric or Stefan don't get up to look for us... okay, wonderful...great thanks you're such a good partner in crime..."

"I didn't agree to anything Damon! I'll give you half hour and then I'll come to search for myself... don't forget I'm team Ric" she smirked as she left the store

"We'll see about that witchy!" Damon said after her. He was going to prove all of them wrong, and he realized for the first time that since he found out about Ric and Caroline he hadn't thought about Elena once.


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N – Here goes chapter 4... D/C interaction, a long one too... I hope you like, and if you find Bonnie OOC then it's because she hasn't been friends with Elena for years, will be explained later! But I also have given indication of the other couple I want in this... lemme know what you think. I can't wait to read the reviews for this, it's turning into my favorite fic lol Ha! REVIEW tc... _

**Chapter 4 **

"So you're okay with Damon and Caroline going for a _walk_" Stefan asked skeptically making air quotations as soon as Caroline had left after informing them that she was going with Damon for a walk

Ric mumbled incoherently and took generous sips from his drink and said "Uh... I don't control Caroline, and I don't want to... she can talk to whomever she wants, and she can stand up for herself" he added firmly

"Yeah... but you know he plans on taking her back or something right?" Stefan asked waving his hands

"She a big girl, she knows how Damon is and how I am. No matter how uncomfortable I may be... she is the one who decides who she wants to be with and whatever it is I'll respect it" Ric said wisely

"You weird" Stefan said a little drunkenly

"I'm just old" Ric laughed

"You know Stefan has one and a half century on you right?" a familiar voice said from behind them and they both whipped around in their seats to see Bonnie grinning at them

"Bonnie... what are you... Woah, you look..." Stefan said dazedly as he looked at her from top to down "Hot!..." he added absent-mindedly and jerked suddenly when he realized what he said and grimaced and turned away embarrassed from staring at her

Bonnie blushed violently and even Ric laughed impishly and nodded his agreement and said "You do look hot Bon"

"Uhmm thanks I guess" she replied unable to remove the huge grin from her face. Instinctively she looked down at herself and wondered why they thought that. She was wearing a simple washed denim short shorts with a simply white tee... she had tucked a white flower in her air for all the island charm it possessed. She shrugged and sat down next to Stefan on the bar and that was when she noticed that Stefan was only wearing jeans and nothing else

Stefan noticed her looking at his half dressed open mouthed and said immediately "Caroline's gonna buy me clothes, I don't have any dry ones... and she won't let me shop on my own" he added with a grin and Ric laughed

Bonnie simply nodded and turned to order a drink when she remembered the clothes Caroline had paid for in the boutique and burst out laughing causing them to look at her weirdly

"What... what happened?" Ric asked a little worriedly

"Uh... nothing you'll find out eventually" she replied still laughing imagining Stefan's expression when Caroline showed him the pink shirts

"So how come you're here" Stefan asked suddenly remembered his deflected question

"Damon called me and convinced me to come" she answered

"Really?" Ric asked curiously

"Yeah... apparently he wants me to help him steal Caroline from you" Bonnie said pointing at Ric

"And...?" he urged her on

"I told him in as many words that he is not good for her... and that I'm team Ric" she said adding a fist punch for effect and they laughed

"Thanks... I guess" Ric said sincerely

"Well I just like pissing him off... but I'm team Care really" Bonnie said as the bartender handed her her strawberry daiquiri and Stefan smirked at her pink drink "I just came here to see my best friend, when she possibly might need me... too" she added hastily looking at Stefan

"Oh... don't worry I'm a very good friend to Caroline, but I'm no Bon-Bon" Stefan mocked imitating Caroline's tone

"That's exactly what Damon said" Bonnie laughed

"Cocky bastard" Stefan mumbled on instinct

"Did you meet them?" Ric asked

"Mmhmm... just when they were leaving" Bonnie said and added "Don't worry I threatened brain bleeds and aneurisms and anatomy defects if she comes back crying"

"Knowing Caroline she'll cry at anything... even happy things" Ric said fondly

"I know that... but I just have too much fun burning Damon... and I can't help but imagine his face if I do something to his... you know" Bonnie said wickedly using her hands to suggest the 'you know' and Stefan snorted in his drink and sniggered and Ric thumped him on the back and noticed when Stefan coyly sneaked a glance at Bonnie from up to down again when she wasn't looking and turned back to his drink grinning widely.

"I'm glad you came Bonnie" Stefan said impishly with the same idiotic grin and Bonnie nodded with her own grin to match

"So are you afraid of me or something?" Damon asked curiously

"Of course not" Caroline replied instantly

"Then why are you all the way over there?" Damon asked skeptically waving a hand to indicate the space between them; she was standing 4 feet away from him as they walked down the beach

"It's not intentional" she said meekly

"I won't bite... unless you ask" he joked and sighed deeply when she only gave a small fake smile in response "What's wrong Barbie... why are you so uncomfortable?"

"Just..." she started stopping suddenly and turned to look at him with an exasperated look on her face "Just get it over with Damon... say what you want to, and leave me be"

Damon sighed and hung his head. He had not wanted her to feel this way, like he was going to yell at her or something, he had not planned on anything like that. He just wanted to talk to her... not say anything about her going to Ric and it pained even more when she looked like she was afraid of him

"You have to stop looking at me like that" he warned

"Like what?"

"Like you think I'm going to blow... I'm not going to blow" Damon said firmly

"Well I'm sorry Damon, you always... always get angry and say things when something like this happens" she replied slowly looking down at her feet "So I'm just bracing myself... finish it... I'm a slut... I'm the biggest..."

"You're not..."

"I'm a whore..."

"Caroline..."

"I'm ridiculously easy and a wanton... and a" she continued

"Stop it" Damon said angrily grabbing hold of her shoulders "Wait... did you just say wanton?" he added incredulously and started laughing

"What... why are you laughing at me?" she yelled through clenched teeth and hit him on the shoulder and shrugged away from him

"I swear you were born in the wrong century... wanton!" he said laughing and bent down and held his knees

"You're such a jerk Damon... Screw you" she yelped and started walking away furiously but he yelled out for her and caught up to her and he realized how badly he wanted to kiss her at this moment... she looked so delectable flustered and pissed, to him it was worth her wrath just to get to see this face

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry. It's just you say the weirdest things sometimes Barbie" he said trying to control his laughter

She whimpered angrily but couldn't help laugh at his expression and crossed her hands in front of her chest adamantly and said "Whatever get it over with"

"Caroline" he said sweetly "I'm not angry... not at you at least. I just needed to explain something to you"

"Don't be angry with Ric, Damon... he never pressured me or anything, I was the one who went to him" she pleaded and he felt himself get angry at her defending him

"The only person I'm angry with is myself" he couldn't help but smirk when her jaw fell open "I was wrong... about everything. I should never have treated you the way I did. And I need you to understand that it wasn't directed towards you, I didn't expressly want to hurt you... I was just bitter and you were the only person I could take it out on... I don't know why I did what I did."

"I know I'm not the easiest person to be around" she said uncomfortably looking around wondering what to say. She wanted to say so many things to him, for so long but she had never had the guts... always afraid that he would get angry. But today she knew she had nothing to lose except more of her self-respect so she decided to go for it... as it is she no longer cared if he was angry with her "And yet I was nothing but nice to you... and if you didn't want me you should never have been with me in the first place. I had gotten used to you not wanting me for years... but being with me and then treating me like crap... that's just cruel and mean Damon, no one deserves that"

"I know... but I didn't mean it Caroline. None of the things I said" he said sadly

"But you still said them, once is forgivable, twice is okay, thrice is still fine but every single time is just intentional... and I thought you were done treating me like that" she stated

"I know..." he said angrily and tried to get her to look at him but she wouldn't pick up her head from looking at her feet. She knew if she looked into his eyes she would just melt and forget all the bad things she wanted to say to him. "And I realized it now Caroline that I shouldn't have done those things... but I couldn't help myself, you were just so nice to me and it used to piss me off"

"Just because you love Elena and no one else matters to you, that doesn't mean we don't deserve to be loved" she said firmly turning to look him in the eye "Just because I'm not Elena doesn't mean I don't deserve at least normal decency from you"

He sighed angrily and turned to look away at the turbulent and he swore he found himself hating that doppelganger... she had effectively ruined everything. His relationship with his brother, however weak it may have been they were still brothers but here comes Elena and they could never be brothers again. He had lost the opportunity to have good people around him... Ric, Bonnie, most of all Caroline. Everything he did was because and for Elena and it destroyed any chance he had at a happy life. He was always the one to be picked last... sometimes never picked at all, and he had done the same to Caroline, who despite his behavior had loved him... actually loved him and he had driven her away from him all because of...

"I don't" he grumbled

"Don't what?" she asked confused

"I don't love Elena" he said and she snorted and he looked at her angrily "What... don't laugh"

"Oh come on Damon... if there was one thing I could count on to never change was that you love Elena... end of story" she said as she started to walk away and he stopped her by grabbing her hand

"Don't tell me how I'm supposed to feel... I know what it is, a little late I know but that's how it is. I don't love Elena" he said confidently letting go of her hand searching her face for any sign of relief, even skepticism would do anything... anything to replace the look of fear

"How can you know Damon?" she asked after a while, her voice softer and inquisitive and he did an internal happy dance at that

"Because she had been throwing herself at me for weeks and I never once acted on it, I didn't even think about acting on actually. I ju-just have wanted her for so long, it became a routine, she represented all the things that I _thought_ I wanted... so I assumed that having her would mean that I would get that dream or something..." he trailed off lamely realizing that he wasn't making any sense

"What did you want" she asked sincerely

"Truthfully... all I've wanted is for someone to care for me, I haven't had that since my mother died and I didn't make it easier for Stefan to love me either... I just needed someone to care and here she came along and I thought she cared for me, but she didn't... she really doesn't" he added angrily

"If she cared about you she wouldn't lead you on... or toy with Stefan that way either" Caroline said carefully taking a step closer to Damon

"I know" he assured her

"I cared about you" she said in a self-conscious tone looking down at her feet "Even when I was human... even without compulsion"

Damon turned his head away in frustration... why was everyone so keen on reminding him how nice she had been to him?

"I know" he stated and they stared at each for a long time and she starting nodding her head as if their conversation was done and turned to walk away

"Wait... I'm not done yet" he quipped

"What now?" she asked annoyed

"I don't love Elena... don't you get that. I don't want to be with Elena... I know I told you that I would never feel that way about anyone else and blah blah blah" he said frustrated waving his hands in the air "But I do, I want you Caroline. I haven't thought of anything but you since my talk with teach"

He had expected her to maybe smile... okay maybe do a little happy dance... or maybe even squeal in delight and plant a big one on him. But he did not expect the cold unaffected look on her face as those words left his mouth

"You only want me when someone else has me... just like you wanted Elena when Stefan had her" she stated

"Oh is that so" he countered closing the gap between them some more "If I didn't want you and wanted Elena then why didn't I go for it when she came at me like a harlot?"

She opened her mouth to tell him just why he had not done so... when she snapped it shut angrily realizing that she had no answer

"I don't know" she grumbled and he smirked

"See... I know I was a little late..." he started

"Little?" she cut in with a little laugh "Not little Damon... you're too late"

"You don't mean that" he said sternly and she snorted throwing her hands in the air

"I will not leave Ric and jump into your bed Damon, just coz you realized something" she said sternly and grew angry when he looked frustrated and angry at her "You actually thought I would just fall into your arms just like that didn't you Damon? I did that the last time thinking you would treat me better this time... and look where it got me" she yelled and he looked crest-fallen

"I'm sorry" he pleaded

"Don't be sorry" she bellowed and he actually took a few steps back from her "I know you think I'm stupid but I'm not. I never thought that you would fall out of love with Elena in a week and in love with me... no I never expected that when we started out. I always wanted what you have always wanted... to be loved just once... one person who would love just me and I thought I could show you that I do love you, just you and I would always pick you... but you never gave me a chance. And now you think just because it is _you_ asking I'll go down that road again... it shows how little you think of me Damon" she spat and he felt his very undead heart clench it pain something it hadn't done for long... too long

"I didn't mean it like that" he said firmly... even though he realized he did expect that, he thought she loved him so much that she would give him another chance and he winced at how arrogant that was of him. Maybe they were all right... he's no good for her

"And I know you're not the kind of person who would hurt teach..." he began

"Ric...!" she screamed

"Ric... sorry" he corrected immediately "But... but I just had to tell this. I had to tell you that I see myself getting everything that I have wanted with you... someone who loves me, my brother Stefan... friends like Ric and Bonnie. A family Caroline... that's all I've ever wanted... and you're the only thing that can give me that, a place where I belong" he said desperately and she smiled and he hated himself for hoping just a little bit

"You can have all that Damon... Stefan loves you no matter what, and if you're just a little less nasty Ric and Bonnie can be great friends... and me" she said with that same smile and he was almost giddy at hearing her words "Me... I don't know Damon, everything has a breaking point and I think I reached mine that night. I've had enough heartbreak from you... even to last for all of eternity" she laughed sadly as the tears announced their presence by smearing her mascara

"Don't say that..." he warned through clenched teeth and was positively fuming when she stepped even closer to him with same infuriatingly beautiful smile and put her hand on his chest on top of his heart

"Always remember Damon that I love you... even when you were at your worst and especially at you worst... and a part of me will always love you but another part can't take it anymore... it needs to move on and Ric... he" she said sweetly

"No... Stop with that crap" he said angrily grabbing her shoulders "You're acting like you want me and not him and yet..."

"Well of course I want you!" she yelled "I've wanted you since that night in mystic grill... a part of me"

"No... No no part Caroline. All of you wants me... just like I do, and all of you belongs to me, just like I do. When are you going to get that?" he screamed pulling her so close he could smell her fear and uncertainty

"I don't want to get that... I can't get that... it's too much" she cried shaking her head and trying to free herself from his grip, trying to look anywhere but his eyes... she could never control herself when she got a sight of those

"Please let me go Damon" she begged and he shook his head furiously... he needed her to understand, he needed her to get how much he meant what he said... he just needed her to give in, he could see how badly she wanted to give in, but she was so afraid... but who could blame her? He needed her to want him back; when he finally wanted her... he needed this more than he had ever needed anything

"Let her go Damon" he heard Bonnie's voice from behind him and surprisingly it wasn't angry, it was soft and full of pity

He nodded mumbled a sorry and and let go of her "But I'm... I'm not giving up, like you never gave up on me Caroline." He said determinedly looking between them glaring at Bonnie to challenge that but she simply shrugged her shoulders and raised a brow and beckoned Caroline to come to her. Damon spun her around and she looked scared again

"Can we be friends, start over from there... I have to have you in my life... I" he started ready to talk for hours just to convince her to agree... somehow just somehow

To his surprise she smiled a little and nodded her head and whispered "I'll always be there for you Damon" and turned around and left with Bonnie who slung an arm around her friends shoulders

Damon shook his head at how nice she was... no one else would still declare that after everything he had done to her, that was why he loved her, because she was so... wait did he think he loved her? Damon eyebrows rose impulsively as this thought crossed his head and he sighed thinking _wonderful timing Damon... really perfect._

"Are you okay?" Ric asked soothingly, softly patting her hair

"Mmhmm..." she croaked slightly "I'll be okay"

He only nodded in response and glanced at Damon sitting on the bar who scowled at him and went back to chugging from the bottle and teasing the crap out of Stefan and Bonnie

"We're gonna be friends" Caroline said slowly and Damon winced slightly... though only slightly

"Y-yyou and me?" Ric asked incredulously not understanding what she meant and she laughed

"No... Me and Damon" she quipped "He said sorry and other stuff... and now we're friends. I can be his friend right?" she added suddenly

"You can do whatever you want Caroline? No one tells you what to do least of all me" he replied even though he hated the thought of it and she smiled at him and pulled them towards the bar where everyone else was sitting

"Ok... not that it's not nice... but seriously seeing it in person is a little weird" Bonnie said indicating towards Ric and Caroline.

Damon looked back and scowled at the happy couple image; smiling faces, hands around waists. What the hell? She wanted him...

"You'll get used to if after a while" Stefan stated seriously

"Barbie can you please get him some clothes" Damon said angrily pointing at Stefan "I've had enough of women whistling and whispering... and I'm tired of watching witchy blush every 5 minutes" Bonnie's eyes widened suddenly and she slapped him on the shoulder

"Jealous Damon?" Stefan mocked unable hide his happy grin at Damon's Bonnie comment

"You wish. Heard from you girlfriend lately" Damon added in a sweet mock tone and Stefan scowled at him but recovered quickly

"Nah... I've been too busy making Bonnie blush" Stefan countered and they all looked at him wide-eyed and Bonnie blushed again

"Stefan!" Caroline said laughing "What happened to you?"

"Island fever or something... I'm just tired of Elena" he replied and Bonnie and Damon nodded in agreement

"Uh... okay" Caroline said awkwardly "Lemme give you your clothes" she added giddily grabbing a bag from one of the chairs and Stefan turned around

"Oh goody!" Bonnie said excitedly turning around as well clasping her hands in anticipation

"This is gonna be fun" Damon smirked getting off his chair while Ric shook his head at their childishness but smiled widely when he saw the clothes. Stefan looked suspiciously from one to another until his eyes fell on the shirts Caroline was removing and his jaw fell open

"You're lucky you're cute Care... coz I could actually kill you for this" Stefan said through clenched teeth looking from one bright color to the next and the rest of them laughed uncontrollably

"Why are you laughing?" Caroline demanded looking at each of them sadly and angrily "Stefan will look great in all of these" she added firmly

"Even the lavender?" Damon asked howling having to use the bar as support

"Mmmm" she cried "I know what I'm doing and they'll look good... stop laughing" she pouted as screamed

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry" Ric said through his laughter and tried to hold her waist but she hit his hand angrily but he managed to grab her and bring her closer while she pouted like never before and Damon would have turned away and snapped something if he hadn't been laughing so bad "We trust you... I'm sure they'll look good, right Stefan?"

Stefan looked like he positively wanted to drop dead but one look at Caroline's pleading pouting face and he sighed grumbling "I'll try them... but I'm not wearing lavender" he added darkly and she smiled happily clapping her hands, her foul mood gone as soon as it had come and Damon couldn't help but smirk, it was impossible for her to not be happy and cheerful for longer than five minutes... that's why he loved her. _Ah! Not with that again_... he thought slapping a hand to his forehead

"Fine don't wear the lavender... though it'll look good..." Caroline started

"It has embroidery on it" Stefan said exasperatedly cutting in but she paid no attention

"But you have to wear the pink Stef" Caroline pleaded picking up a pick shirt to show it to him "You would look _so_ hot in pink"

"Yeah" Bonnie concurred finally standing up straight and Stefan whipped his head to look at her raising his brows questioningly

"Whatever..." Bonnie surrendered throwing her hands in the air "Yes... Stefan you would look ridiculously hot in pink" Stefan smirked happily and nodded his head to Caroline who was eying them both curiously and opened her mouth to say something until Ric gave her the 'drop-it' look and she did, and Damon wondered how they had gotten so close that he knew her so well. He was trying really hard to be happy with his brother and friends... especially when Bonnie had become so much more fun, but he still couldn't get the whole 'Ric and Caroline' out of his head.

"Bonnie you should come to that dolphin thing tomorrow" Ric said remembering suddenly "I'm guessing you like dolphins too"

"I do" she replied "But Stefan said that all seats are booked"

"Yeah... you can take mine. I'm sure Caroline wants to spend time with you" Ric said and Damon sighed at his self sacrificing attitude

"Uhmm yeah... but are you sure?" Bonnie asked

"Yep" Ric said nodding his head and Caroline smiled at him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. She knew what he was doing, he was letting her spend time with her friend and also letting her know that he trusted her coz Damon would be coming on that cruise. That's why she felt so strongly for him, he was to simply put it a good man... hard to come by these days.

"Am I interrupting something" Damon asked wickedly as he walked onto the hotel patio a couple of hours later to find Bonnie and Stefan sitting alone watching the moonlight over the sea. They shifted around uncomfortably when they heard his voice but Bonnie was the first to recover

"Yes... Damon you always ruin perfectly peaceful moments with your snarky comments"

"Whatever..." Damon huffed sitting down "Did you know Barbie used the actually word 'wanton' today" he laughed as did Stefan who shook his head fondly

"She said 'I reckon' the other day" he said laughing and Damon sniggered

"I think Ric's vocabulary is rubbing off on her" Bonnie chirped in picking up her drink and Stefan again smirked at her pink drink

"Can we please not use the words Ric Barbie and rub in the same sentence" Damon grumbled angrily

"I'm sorry Damon... about everything" Bonnie said sincerely surprising Stefan and Damon

"Oh... don't be sorry, I'm not done yet. Are you still team Ric?" Damon asked amused

"What... you heard what Caroline said Damon, drop it please..." Bonnie pleaded

"No witchy... you heard her, she wants to be with me but she's still going to be with Ric... what the hell does that mean?" Damon said incredulously

"Just because she wants to be with you doesn't mean she's meant to be with you" Bonnie said quietly

"Yeah... she's right. Just because that's what you both want doesn't mean you can make it work... some things are just not meant to work out no matter how hard you try" Stefan added sadly fiddling with his glass and Damon looked confused from one to the other

"Are we still talking about me and Barbie?" he asked suspiciously and they both jumped in their seats

"Yeah... duh!"

"Of course who else..."

Damon nodded slowly extremely confused but shook his head to return to his previous line of thought

"Whatever... I don't care what you say, I won't give up on Barbie...she never gave up on me." Damon said firmly and Stefan opened his mouth to say something when a frustrated voice from behind cut them across

"How could you people just... Bonnie what are?... Stefan are you wearing a pink shirt?" Elena's bossy voice called from behind and they all whipped around to look at her and groaned in unison, Bonnie being the loudest

"Oh god!" Bonnie complained gulping her drink in one go "I sincerely hope you're Katherine and not Elena" she added darkly

Stefan surprised everyone when he burst out laughing at her comment and she looked at him weirdly and started laughing too. Damon looked from the two laughing Buddha's to a furious Elena and sighed happily... no matter what this was going to be fun to watch.


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N- Here goes chapter 5... I know it took longer than usual, but that is why this chapie is longer than 5000 words! I hope you guys like what Damon does and says in this chapter and sorry for ending it the way I did, but I couldn't help it! The next chapter will be a lot... lot of daroline, angsty, fluffy, flirty and steamy Daroline so consider this a warm up. Sorry if it seems a little boring at places. Please lemme know what you guys think, I am seriously loving the response to this fic and it makes me wanna write much more. Tc REVIEW. Oh and 'The best mistake' is half written too so should be up in a couple of days unless something else gets done before that lol. Anyway now back to reading... REVIEW tc..._

**Chapter 5 **

"What did he say? Crushed?"

"Huffed..."

"No. Puffed."

"No Judged"

"Judged?"

"Duh!"

"Stop looking right at them Bon..."

"I'm-I'm looking at the TV"

"Yeah right!"

"Here come the tears!"

"Classic Elena..."

"Oh..Oh... Oh there goes the head tilt..."

"You two are so childish!"

"You're the one who suggested this!"

"Did not..."

"Did too..."

"Sshhh..."

"Daniel... he said Daniel. Who's Daniel?"

"Shack... she said shack"

"Or was it hag? Elena is totally a hag!"

"I think it was shag"

"Shag... Elena shagged a Daniel? Wait or was it Stefan?"

"Not shag you perv... Jack..."

"Jack? Now who's Jack? Wait Jack and Daniel?"

"Oh crap! Jack Daniel's... that son of a... I knew he stole my bottle"

"Why would Stefan steal your alcohol Ric?"

"Coz he's a little weasel! I knew he had his eye on that..."

"Why would they be talking about Jack Daniels?"

"Could you not think alcohol right now Ric"

"I am a guy Care"

"I've noticed... so think about sex then!"

"We think about sex when we're not getting any. But we think about alcohol all the time"

"That is despicable... and it will be modified"

"Give it your best shot"

"Oh my God... you two bicker like an old married couple already!" Bonnie exclaimed putting a hand on her mouth and Damon glared at her angrily. Really, aren't girls supposed to be sensitive about these things?

"Whatever he's old. I'm not" Caroline stated crossly

"Oh... real mature Care!" Ric commented and Bonnie had to control herself from laughing out loud

"Oh... she's hugging him" Caroline exclaimed and Bonnie whipped around and cringed slightly at what she saw

"He's pushing her off... good boy" Ric said fondly

"Speak softly, I can't hear anything... Oh my god! Oh my god! He said sex..." Caroline jumped up suddenly and the others strained their ears "Stefan cheated on Elena... Oh no Bonnie tell me you didn't!"

"Thanks for your confidence Care...I didn't sleep with Stefan!" Bonnie said darkly and Caroline visibly relaxed

"Wait... I can't hear..."

"Oh for the love of god!" Damon said pissed as he got off his chair and walked in front of the eavesdropping trio and looked at Stefan and Elena speaking in the corner and said "Either go somewhere beyond their hearing range, or speak loud enough so they can hear... coz this is pissing me off... and I'm already pissed off enough"

Stefan and Elena whipped around at Damon's comment and Ric and Caroline immediately lowered their heads, whereas Bonnie stared straight at the TV where they were showing an ATP masters match. Elena glared directly at Bonnie angrily who simply shrugged

"What...?" Bonnie countered smugly "I like to look at Nadal's butt" she added simply and Elena scowled at her while Caroline suppressed a giggle, but they both could have sworn that they saw Stefan's mouth curve into a small amused smile which immediately disappeared when Elena turned to look at him.

"Why is _Bonnie_ here?" Elena asked Stefan suspiciously, who merely shook his head and mumbled something under his breath

"Uh... you know what Elena, I unlike you was invited here, and the next time you speak about me like that you'll regret it" Bonnie hissed at her and stomped her way to the terrace and plopped down on the chair and Ric followed her immediately not wanting to be a part of the drama

"Who invited _her_?" Elena asked saying the 'her' with as much disdain as possible and Stefan scowled behind her back

"I did" Damon shrugged and Elena looked at him shocked

"Why?"

"I don't have to tell you why I do anything" Damon stated crossing his arms in front of his chest

"I-I just... I can't... you people just left without telling me anything..." Elena said waterworks in full force again

"I... I told Damon to tell you" Stefan said meekly and she turned to look at him

"I called you a hundred times and you too Damon, none of you picked up and I thought... I got scared; I thought you guys were hurt"

They all heard the bark like laugh from Bonnie that reverberated from the terrace, and the desperate cough from Ric trying to shush her response.

"She hates me... and you are socializing with her... she said she hoped I was Katherine. Stefan what is going on?" Elena demanded taping her foot impatiently and Stefan looked pleadingly at Caroline who shrugged and shook her head and pointed towards the terrace and started to walk towards it, to her surprise Damon followed her pulling her by her hand and turning her around to face him

"See... I don't want Elena Barbie..." he said softly so that no one would hear

"It still doesn't change anything Damon" she replied looking down at her feet and started walking backwards to the terrace. He sighed and let go of her hand, walking behind her thinking that he would just have to keep this up... keep showing her what he meant. Caroline sat down next to Ric, whereas Damon sat down next to Bonnie who looked like she wanted to hurt something right this instant

"You didn't sleep with my lil Bro right witchy?" Damon asked wickedly and was surprised when he wasn't hit by an aneurism

"No" Bonnie said instantly... a little too soon for Caroline's liking

"Oh my God! Bon you did" she exclaimed loudly and Ric coughed again to suppress her shriek

"Ah! Care no we didn't..." she replied exasperatedly

"But you did do something..." Caroline countered and was met by only silence so ploughed on "I think it's amazing... you and Stefan is better than Elena and Stefan"

"Stefan and anyone is better than Stefan and Elena" Damon snorted and Caroline looked at him weirdly while Ric rolled his eyes "Well except you and Stefan Barbie..." Damon added with a shudder at that thought and they all laughed at his expression

"I don't think of Stefan that way... though he is hot" she said laughing and Ric raised his brows at her and she giggled at him

They sat there joking around for a while, when Stefan wobbled into the terrace half hour later looking thoroughly exhausted and annoyed

"God!" he exclaimed as he sat down and put his head in between his hands "I'm so tired"

"What happened?" Ric asked concerned and Stefan groaned

"I think... I _think _I broke up with her" he said dazedly

"What do you mean _think_?" Damon asked pointedly

"Well just when the words were just out of my mouth she burst out crying and ran away" Stefan said confoundedly and Bonnie sniggered loudly and Damon smirked

"170 years and you still don't know how to dump a girl" he mocked

"I have no clue how to deal with her now... I don't want to hurt her" Stefan said worriedly

"Don't worry Stef" Caroline said putting a hand on his "She'll come around in some time and you two can talk properly"

"Well that's the thing..." Stefan said angrily "I've tried to break up with her so many times before, but she always guilt's me back into it" all of them except Bonnie looked shocked at this, most of all Damon

"Well I'll help you this time" Bonnie said firmly and he smiled at her "Don't worry I know just how to annoy Elena enough so she'll never come near you again. Or I'll just turn her into a ferret... or is that too Harry Potter?" she added thoughtfully and Stefan laughed shaking his head, his bad mood vanishing in an instant.

Caroline scrunched up her face confused and opened her mouth to demand that she be told what was going on this instant when Ric covered her mouth with his hand and she moaned in complaint

"You don't have to know everything Babe" he mumbled as she tried to wrench his hand away, but he kept it put widening his eyes warningly as he pulled his hand away and she huffed angrily and crossed her hands in front of her chest pouting heavily

"Care..." Bonnie began

"Oh don't tell me anything... its okay no one tells little old me anything as it is" she snapped angrily and Damon smirked "You know I don't like secrets" she screamed suddenly and Bonnie laughed

"God Care... me and Stefan are friends" Bonnie said

"Uh... blonde but not stupid" Caroline replied annoyed and Stefan sighed and hung his head

"She'll never give up" Ric advised wisely "Trust me... and then she'll start making those cute pleading faces with the pouty eyes and you won't know what hit you, just give in now... much easier "

Damon scowled involuntarily; he couldn't help but notice that Ric and Caroline had become so close in a few months. He knew they had been involved romantically only for a month but he at least seemed to know her pretty well... but the thing that really pissed Damon off was that Ric wasn't threatened by Damon even a little bit, like he had full confidence that Caroline would never leave him... even though she wanted him and not Ric.

"Fine Care... but do not _squeal_ or I swear I will burn you too" Bonnie warned darkly and Damon turned to give her a disapproving look

"I promise" Caroline said giddily already excited and Ric rolled his eyes

"So, I've wanted to break up with Elena for a long time... and yesterday me and Bonnie had a good talk and.. and.. now I've decided to break up with her no matter what" Stefan said awkwardly and Caroline looked at him confused

"Uh... I don't care about that!" she exclaimed "What is going on between you and Bonnie"

"We... uh kissed, but that is it..." Stefan began but covered his ears when Caroline squealed happily and clapped her hands practically bouncing on her seat and Ric put his hand on her mouth again but she wrenched it away immediately

"What can't a girl be happy for her best friend?" Caroline pouted while smiling widely from ear to ear

Stefan and Bonnie both looked at each other wondering who the best friend was, Stefan looked utterly confused how to go about explaining his complicated life to Caroline who wanted to know every little detail but thankfully Ric came to his rescue

"Stop harping on them Care... they'll tell you when they want too. Right?" Ric said looking at Stefan and Bonnie who both nodded their head and Caroline groaned in frustration but sighed defeated nonetheless and immediately changed the topic.

"The dolphin thing is gonna be awesome tomorrow" she said happily and they all nodded their head in agreement "I'll get you hundreds of photos" she added looking at Ric guiltily who simply nodded trying to pretend like he actually cared about dolphins, which he did not... he was on vacation, he would prefer to sleep for 15 hours rather than waking up at 5 in the morning to board some godforsaken ship.

"Don't worry Care, I'm not a dolphin guy... now if it was sharks..." he said airily and Damon couldn't help but smirk at him, they both loved sharks, but for the sake of tomorrow Damon's most favorite thing in the world would be dolphins... after Caroline and bourbon that it. This was the best opportunity he would get in the coming days and he was going to make the most of it. Damon Salvatore was a man with a plan.

"This is amazing" Caroline exclaimed as she dipped her hand in and out of the water as the boat zooped towards the island in the distance. Damon groaned at the chirpiness in her voice, they had done everything... sat on the giant ass ship for five hours to reach some point in the middle of the ocean, watched the whale and dolphins swim by, then go to the marine reserve and spend a few more hours swimming with the dolphins, and were on their way to another exotic island and she still had the same excitement and pure bliss in her face and attitude. Damon wouldn't admit it, but he was exhausted vampire or not, this was too damn tiring. He looked over to the other boat a few meters behind them and saw Bonnie with the exact same look on her face as Caroline's and Stefan who sat behind the witch on the tiny dingy was brooding for the first time in days. Damon knew exactly what his brother was thinking; they were too old for this shit.

But Damon had one thing to be happy about, and it was this one thing that had kept him going for the past 10 hours and he would be damned if either the judgy witch or his over-protective brother ruined it, so he had arranged everything perfectly, nothing was going to go wrong. He stepped off the boat with wobbly legs like he was drunk or something whereas his blonde companion practically skipped off the dingy and told their boatman in rapid Portuguese that he was to wait for them to return, Damon winked at the boatman behind her back and he nodded at him in understanding.

"Why are you smiling?" Caroline asked suspiciously when she noticed the cheeky smirk on his face as they waited for Stefan and Bonnie's boat to reach.

"Nothing" he said immediately readjusting his face and she narrowed her eyes at him but he simply shrugged and pointed at the boat where the new love birds were getting off.

They spent the next hour or so playing in the water again using their supernatural techniques to go snorkeling forever, while Bonnie sat on the beach huffed and angry at having to breathe. Damon followed Caroline when she said she was going to go sit for a while though she just really wanted to give Stefan and Bonnie some time alone. He sat down next to her as she took photo after photo of the duo playing in the water. She looked completely at peace as she stared into the emerald waters and he decided that this was the best moment to put his plan into action.

"You know there are these awesome limestone caves here?" he asked in a hushed tone hoping that Stefan was distracted enough with Bonnie to not listen in on them. Caroline turned around to look at him surprised

"Really?" she said amazed and he nodded at her

"Yeah they are supposed to the largest in the world... and at one point the limestone has formed the shape of a heart" he added to fuel her romantic heart and he could see her eyes widen in anticipation.

"That is amazing" she commented in a whisper and added timidly "You think we could go see it?"

He laughed at her tone and said "Of course we can Barbie, I still remember the way from the last time I was here"

She clapped happily and got to her feet and said "I'll go tell Stefan and..."

"Maybe we should let them be" Damon cut her across tilting his head towards them and Caroline followed his gaze and watched as Stefan and Bonnie splashed water at each other like children until Stefan got tired of her meek attempts and slung her over his shoulder and literally dumped her into the water chuckling as she squealed in delight. Caroline couldn't help but smile at the sight, she had to agree with Damon it would be good to leave them alone, but that would mean she would be alone with Damon... and that she did not want.

"Come on Blondie lets go" he said tugging on her arm and she sighed torn, but he didn't give her choice when he practically carried her into the forest and she knew it was futile to resist.

When they both returned to the beach after what seemed like hours Caroline dropped her sandals onto the sand and screamed in despair as she took in the sight ahead of her. There wasn't a single person on the beach... and moreover their boat/dingy was nowhere to be seen either. She ran around wildly calling out for Stefan and Bonnie and felt the tears creep up on her when she realized what had happened. They were deserted on the island and it was pitch dark... no correction, _she_ was deserted on an island with _Damon_... oh and it was pitch dark with a full moon, could it get more romantic?

"Where is everyone Damon?" she asked frightfully and he looked around perplexed scanning the beach and as far off into the sea as possible.

"I-I don't know..." he muttered confused "Calm down Caroline, we're vampire's we're not going to die." He added when he saw how scared she was

She snorted involuntarily at his words, she wasn't afraid of dying or anything like that... there was only thing in her head, she was all alone... with Damon of all people when he was being so nice to her and she didn't like this one bit.

"How could they have forgotten us?" she whispered more to herself than to Damon and he sighed and tried to put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her but she shrugged it off.

"I don't know... I don't know" he repeated stunned "But its okay Barbie, Stefan and witchy will realize we aren't there and they send someone to come get us" he added reassuringly smiling at her but she bit her lip in pure hopelessness and stared into the open sea hoping to see some boat heading their way. But she saw none so she sighed heavily and turned to look at Damon finally and he widened his eyes expectantly waiting to hear what she had to say

"You're right... we're vampires" she repeated nodding her head furiously "We can just swim to land"

"What?" Damon said shocked "We can't swim 500 Kms. Barbie. And that's just a guess, who knows how far Madeira is"

"Well we can't just sit here" she yelped defensively taking a step back from him as he took one forward towards her

"Uh... yeah that is what we will do. They will send someone to get us... Jeez chill Blondie" Damon said confidently as he made himself comfortable on the sand and patted the part next to him inviting her to sit down, and she did instantly simply because if she stood for too long she knew she would faint like some heroine. For a second there he wondered if he had patted on his lap would she have sat down on him.

"Just breathe Barbie" he said soothingly putting his arm around her shoulder and even though she wanted to push it away and run as far from his as possible, she just couldn't. "Everyone knows that we'll be fine... it's not like we can starve. But if rescue comes like after a day or something we'll have to pretend to be hungry and tired and blah blah blah" he added thoughtfully and noticed when she suddenly tensed in his arms

Her mind was racing at lightning speed; she couldn't believe this was happening. Now she was positively panicking, everyone would not only know that they were safe, but that would know that they were together... Ric would know that she was with Damon. Her mind fluttered to Damon's next words 'After a day' and she stood up impulsively... she couldn't spend the night on the island alone with Damon. She tried to catch her breath as she came up with some solution in her head... seeing only one she blurted out

"I'm gonna swim Damon... I can't stay here" she said desperately as the tears flowed freely and he looked at her weirdly... why was she behaving like this?

"There must be some land nearby to this island, we could just swim there and take a boat to Madeira" she said frantically and he groaned loudly "Which place is nearby to this?" she demanded looking at him and he did _actually_ look down at himself to make sure that he didn't look like an atlas or something.

"I'm sorry but I don't have the map of Madeira and its islands etched in my brain" he said sarcastically and she scoffed at him

"Well we have to do something" she yelled and he threw his hands in the air and grabbed her around the shoulders

"We are doing something... we're going to wait to be rescued, that is the something we will be doing"

"No" she said adamantly pouting

"Well then fine" he said angrily "You go... I'm not swimming across the ocean in the night... when the water is freezing. And how do you even know that the nearby islands will have any habitation huh? What if they are as deserted as this one? It's a waste of time Barbie"

She looked at him in disbelief as he plopped back onto the sand once again and she added firmly "Well I'm going to go"

"Then go" he said simply throwing his hand towards the water and she moaned in complaint

"You're going to make me go alone?" she asked sadly and he nodded furiously. She glazed her eyes over the black waters reflecting over the moonlight, it was cold and dark and well... scary and she did not want to go alone, but she couldn't believe that Damon was going to make her go alone.

"I don't... I can't do this" she said dreadfully running a hand through her curls and Damon looked at her sadly and got to his feet again

"Caroline" he said softly and put his hand around her waist, she closed her eyes at his touch and he noticed the heavy sigh that left her mouth and he smirked smugly. Now he understood why she didn't want to be here with him all alone, she wasn't sure how much more resistance she had. He pulled on her body and bought her close to him, totally flush against his body and her breath hitched as his characteristic smell floated through her nostrils. He brushed his nose against her hair reveling in the feel of her touch and bent down to whisper into her ear

"I'm not going to seduce you Caroline. I don't want you for a small time thing, I want you forever" she shuddered at his words literally counting down as she felt those walls that she had developed for him start to crumble... how did he do this to her? He pulled back from her slowly and regretfully and sat her down on the sand and started his search for something to make a fire with.

Bonnie watched tensed as Stefan chatted away rapidly with the boatman on the ship in Portuguese and she shook her head when she started thinking about how sexy Stefan sounded talking in Portuguese... this was not the time for that. She had other things to focus, like that fact that Caroline and Damon were missing.

It had been a good hour before her and Stefan had realized that Caroline and Damon were nowhere on the beach, they had been having too much fun together in the water. Stefan asked around until he spotted their boatman on the shore and asked him where they were, he replied saying that he had seen Caroline and Damon leaving on some other boat in a hurry. Bonnie shrugged at Stefan thinking that Damon probably did something to piss Caroline off and she just wanted to go back to the mainland. That was what they believed until they reached the ship an hour later and searched the entire vessel to find no sign of them anywhere and that was when they knew that they were missing; or well, weren't on the ship at least.

Bonnie watched with anticipation as Stefan walked towards her with a confused and slightly angry expression on his face.

"What?" she demanded when he about 5 feet ahead of her

"Ahmm, I compelled the boat guy Bonnie" Stefan started unsure, scratching his head "Damon paid him to leave him and Caroline back and tell us that they left with someone else" he added sheepishly cringing away a little from the witch as if expecting that she would burn him due to the lack of Damon in the vicinity

Bonnie muttered under her breath murderously and Stefan was dead sure that this time Damon was going to end up with some serious anatomy malfunctions. She closed her eyes to control the anger that was building up and couldn't help but laugh darkly at their stupidity. Of course Damon would do something like this, they were just wrong to not see it coming.

"We have to inform the captain and we'll turn around and go get them. If he disagrees to turn around then you compel him to jump off and I'll steer the fucking ship myself" she finally said fuming and Stefan was surprised to not see any steam billowing out of her ears. He worked like mad to control the smile that was threatening to form itself on his mouth at her words, and simply shrugged and gave her a weird look which prompted her to scoff and yell

"What?"

"I.. I just don't know if that's the best..." Stefan stuttered

"Spit it out Salvatore" she demanded

"I have never seen Damon go to such extents Bonnie, and he loves her I know it... but that doesn't mean he deserves her either" Stefan added hastily when he saw the pure fury in Bonnie's eyes

"He's not good for her and she told him to back off" Bonnie tried to reason

"She loves him too Bonnie, you can't deny that and we both know she will never stop loving him. Whether he deserves her or not... it's her decision to make, not ours. We can't be hypocritical about this"

"Yes but there are better ways to find that out other than stranding her on an island" Bonnie screamed

"What is Damon if not dramatic?" Stefan mocked and Bonnie scowled at him "It's not like he could get any time alone with her any other way, she just runs away from him. Or _we _are always there to wrench her away from him. I'm not asking you to trust Damon I'm asking you to trust Caroline.

When Bonnie still looked unconvinced Stefan stepped closer to her and wrapped his hand around her waist and whispered "Weren't you the one who told me that it's not fair to settle for safe coz you're too scared to risk you heart for what you really want?" Bonnie whimpered at his sneaky tactics but nodded her head ever so slightly and Stefan smiled in victory

"I will burn his ass to a crisp when they get back" Bonnie warned and Stefan mocked saluted her in agreement "Or if he hurts her again" she added seriously

"I'll help you" Stefan promised sincerely

Caroline watched as Damon worked tirelessly to get the fire started; thankfully she wasn't cold anymore... not that vampire's get cold. She wished she could just fall asleep somehow so she wouldn't have to look at Damon, or talk to him or smell him and close her eyes forcefully every time she felt his wandering gaze on her. This was dangerous... too dangerous, and if she wasn't such a sissy she literally would swim as fast as she could.

"Stop worrying Barbie you're scaring me" Damon commented as he sat down on the sand next to her purposely brushing his arm against hers and she scooted away instantly.

"I just want the rescue to come already" she muttered pulling her knees to her chest and burying her head in between them. He remained silent for a long time; until she heard a soft chuckle escape him and she couldn't help but turn to look at him questioningly

"It's weird coz I'm usually the one rescuing you" he said laughing and she looked at him confused so he added "Brady, Jules, Tyler... Klaus, that stalker in Berlin, ripper Stefan, that crazy pooch in Vienna..."

"Yes yes yes... I get it. You're my knight in shining armor" she said sarcastically

"_Far_ from it Barbie" he said sadly

She turned to look at him and felt her breath hitch, if it was possible he looked even more beautiful with the orange light shimmering off his skin as he looked down at his lap.

"You made up for all of it" she said after a while turning to stare at the fire knowing what his comment had been about.

"Really? How?"

"When you held my hand at my mother's funeral" she whispered so softly and embarrassed that he barely caught it. He sighed as he remembered that day, almost two years ago... it was grey and wet and so was Caroline, and yet he remembered thinking for the first time that day that she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, even and especially in her disheveled state.

"You didn't care about anything at that time, but still you comforted me. I'll never forget that... you saved me that day Damon for real" she continued and he moved closer to her completely forgetting about his decision to not overwhelm her, but how how was he supposed to exercise control when she said something like that? He put his hands around her when he heard that soft sob that always came when she spoke about her mom or that day. She didn't move away from him, she never really had known how to say 'no' to Damon.

"I can't remember the last time she told me 'I love you'" she gasped in wonderment as he moved her head into his chest "I can't remember the last time anyone told me they loved me" she added with a little laugh

"Would it make you feel better or worse if I said it?" Damon asked instantly and he felt her tense against him

"That would depend on whether you meant it" she said picking up her head to look at him and started to move away but he held her back by her shoulders and moved his face as close to hers without actually touching it. She smelled of innocence, just like when she had been human and even now when she was a vampire.

"How much longer are you going to take to realize that I _do_ mean it Caroline?" he whispered and she closed her eyes at his cool breath on her lips losing herself and her mind on him.

"I rather not realize that" she croaked and felt him sigh and move even closer to her face brushing his nose against cheek and she gasped "Don't Damon... please don't" she begged

"Then make me" he said firmly as he crashed his lips to hers and she scrunched her eyes desperately wishing for this to not be true, for her need to not be true. But it wasn't, if there had ever been one true thing in Caroline's life then it was her pure thirst for anything and everything Damon Salvatore.

"Stop me Caroline" he challenged again as he pulled back from his kiss cupping her face and she still kept her eyes shut.

She sighed through her tears as he bought his lips to hers again when she made no move to either throw him off or bring him closer and she found herself wondering if she really wanted him to stop.


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N- Here goes chapter 6. Took too long I know I'm sorry, I was really bummed for ideas but they hit me in a blur and hence you have a nice and long chapter. I hope you like and please let me know what you think. And I'm a little anxious about this one, I hope you like and understand what Caroline says and thinks in this chapter. REVIEW tc... _

**Chapter 6**

She didn't give in. No she didn't, no matter what people may say she did not give in, and if anyone asked she would relay the same... she did not give in. Caroline Forbes had decided quite some time back that she would never again give in to Damon Salvatore.

She stood by her decision and did not give in; she did something else that does not by _any_ angle resemble the act of giving in... _at all_. What _did_ she do you ask?

She opened her mouth.

That's it, that's all she did.

But the innocent act of her opening her mouth prompted the Salvatore to shove his tongue into her mouth as he held onto her blonde locks, holding her head tightly to his own. She got lost in his tongue and his touch forgetting her adamant position of rejecting him any way she could. And before she knew it she was kissing him back, but that's not what she called it... she called it simply moving her lips, a reflex... that's it. How long they were in said position she didn't know, she only realized a change when she felt her back hit the sand and he crawled half on top her, one hand holding her steady by the neck knowing that if he gave her any leverage she would pull back, while his other hand roamed freely along her sides, skimming grazing and squeezing her sensitive skin, through the thin fabric of her dress.

When her one hand tangled itself in his raven hair he got the courage to remove his mouth from her's lowering it down along her neck and throat leaving open mouthed kissed that made her shiver, she gasped as she felt his hand lightly touch her exposed thigh and she cursed herself for wearing such a short sundress... but what the hell do you wear to the beach? It wasn't even a sundress per say, just a dress shirt to cover her Bikini, and she terribly regretted not wearing pants and turtlenecks. His hand ran along the length of her thigh squeezing and rubbing in intervals, while his mouth had found a mind of his own tugging at her breast over the lace of her dress. A low grunt left his mouth sending a shiver down her spine as he thrust his hand under her dress and over her stomach and rested on her other breast when he noticed angrily that it was covered by her bright blue bikini. So he reached out behind her neck to untie her bikini top throwing it carelessly on the sand clearing the way for skin on skin.

A hearty moan left her throat when he grabbed her breast roughly, kneading it with his large hand making his own grunts of pleasure and she felt herself arch her back into his touch and he smirked devilishly while pulling her dress shirt by the strap to one side with his teeth, exposing her left breast to the cool air... and his mouth. She jerked her head up and banged it back onto the sand when she felt him snipping and sucking at her mound, while twirling the other between his forefinger and thumb. She was positively losing her mind, and something deep inside told her that she shouldn't be allowing this but she was too caught up in him and his mouth to think beyond that. His hand left her breast suddenly and she whimpered in protest but couldn't form any words, thankfully at least he kept feasting on her other exposed breast as his hand moved steadily south. She screamed slightly as he cupped her core over her bikini bottoms pushing slightly and she bit her lip lest she screamed again. He let her pert nipple go with a pop and moved the dress to the other side exposing her other very much ignored breast taking its tip into his mouth, delivering the same torture onto it.

To him he had won, she had given in... finally. To her, she was so lost in her bliss that she couldn't comprehend what this meant so she concentrated on enjoying herself... that was of course until the other shoe dropped.

Her eyes shot open wildly as she felt him tug her bikini bottoms to one side and ran his middle finger along her slit groaning at how wet she was for him, she gasped as she realized what was happening and what she was allowing to happen.

"Ric" she shrieked in despair slapping a hand to her mouth as she felt the tears start to brim. He froze instantly, his mouth still on her nipple and his hand sliding into her slit... he couldn't believe what he just heard.

She screamed an 'Ahhhh' in frustration and shoved him off of her throwing him onto the sand straightening her dress and putting her underwear right again getting up and stomping away tugging at her hair in disbelief at what had just happened.

"What the hell Caroline?" Damon yelled getting to his feet and she glared at him angrily

"What do you mean what the hell?" she screamed back just as angry and he advanced closer to her and she was so furious that she was absolutely certain that she wouldn't give in-...sorry open her mouth to him again.

"Why did you push me away?" he asked in a smaller more hurt voice, and usually she absolutely hated seeing Damon hurt but this time she was too far hurt herself to care about him.

"Because this is wrong" she exclaimed stomping her foot "We can't do this, this shouldn't have happened..."

"This is not wrong... you can deny it as long as you want but it's just... right" he spat grabbing her shoulders and she shrugged away scowling at him "Enough Caroline, I'm tired now, just give in" he added in a scream and she shook her head furiously

"No" she stomped her foot again and he was getting angrier by the second, so he roughly grabbed her hand and forced her to look at him

"You want this Caroline" he said in a husky voice

"No I don't" she hissed with a small dark laugh which he matched perfectly when he took his other free hand and shoved it between her legs cupping her core... which told a completely different tale than her words. She whimpered in surprise and wrenched his hand away stepping back to look at him in a mix of shock and disgust.

"Still stick by 'I don't want you" he sneered glaring pointedly between her thighs and she shrieked in whether frustration or anger he couldn't tell, but shriek she did pushing him on the shoulders walking away from him.

"Why are you like this Damon..." she bellowed

"Why am I like this?" he repeated her words in indignation "Why are you like this? You want _me_, you love _me_... I know this, you know this, Ric knows this, Stefan knows this, even Elena knows this now... hell even Obama might know by now" he yelled at her and she looked like she wanted to laugh for a second, at how pathetic his words made her look.

"Then why... why are you still fighting me Barbie?" he said a softer voice and moved ahead to hold her face in his hands, and she instinctively leaned into his touch cursing her weak willpower, when she suddenly ripped his hand off and took a determined step back

"No Damon" she said firmly, the helplessness lost from her voice "I will not do this. I will not cheat on Ric" she added menacingly and he lost it, getting a murderous expression on his face encaging her in his steel like grasp and looked at her in disbelief

"You'll cheat on me with Ric" he snarled in her face "But you won't do it to him?"

It was her turn to get angrier now, as the words sunk in she yelped and threw him down on the sand with a loud thump noise, her nostrils flaring, her eyes practically slits as she looked down at him heatedly.

"Is that what this is about Damon?" she demanded, her voice breaking to show her inner turmoil "This is about revenge isn't it, you don't really want me... you just can't stand that Ric got me, so this is payback?" she added a bark like laugh for dramatic effect and he shook his head, only just realizing what his words must have sounded like.

"No Caroline... that's not what I-" he started but she cut him off waving a finger at him

"I can't believe I fell for it Damon... you'll never change" she muttered "You want what you want and when you want it... but guess what I'm done being your toy. Please just leave me be." She added in such a pleading tone that he couldn't even frame his words as he got up and watched as she zooped to the edge of the island staring out into the ocean.

He shook his head violently as he replayed everything that had happened, this was not the ending he had in mind. But one thing was clear he was going to have to bear the ache in his shorts... there was to be no relief for that.

"I'm sorry" Damon mumbled when he stumbled up to her a few minutes later, almost cringing at her body posture it was like she was radiating anger.

She didn't stir nor did she turn so he repeated himself and by the rise and fall of her slender shoulders he could tell that she had just huffed haughtily.

"I'm sorry Caroline. I was too... assertive" he surrendered knowing that he might not deserve all the blame but he had taken it a bit too far.

"How many more times do I have to say it Damon?" she said softly finally turning around, and he could see the faint lines of her dried tears.

"That's the part I don't get Caroline" he said resolutely "I don't know what else to do... I thought I was doing everything right" he added in a soft mumble and she smiled at him almost a little sadly

"There is nothing you're supposed to do Damon... we talked and and it's over" she said shrugging her shoulders

"_You_ decided that it's over, what about me? Don't I get a say?" for a second he thought she was actually going to say that he didn't get a say and that her word was final, but she just shook her head roughly.

"What more do you want from me Damon?" she asked and he scowled and threw his hands in the air

"What more do you want from _me_?" he bellowed "I don't know how else to prove to you what I mean"

"I don't want anything from you Damon... I want you to leave me alone" she screamed back and he laughed darkly

"Do you have any idea how contradicting your body is to your words?" he mocked

"There's no point talking to you" she muttered incoherently and started to walk away and he stopped her forcefully, his anger getting the better of him.

"Enough now Caroline... enough, you strung me along, you threw saintly Ric in my face and made feel like scum of the earth" he snarled in her face "Now can we just get to the part where you take me back already"

"How can you just assume that I want to take you back?" she struggled to get out of his grip

"Because you practically said so Caroline" he rolled his eyes "Or are you saying now that you don't love me anymore?" he challenged and watched as she determinedly opened her mouth to sneer at him but snapped it shut angrily, he was right she couldn't even say that even to get him to stop hounding her.

"That's not the point" she defended

"What happened to love conquers all? You love me and I l-" she slapped a hand to his mouth effectively silencing him and widening her eyes in warning

"Don't... don't say anything" she pleaded "It's over Damon and I'm never going down that road again" she added and the frustration of her words was driving him half insane

"I don't understand Caroline..." his voice was heavily reflecting his half demented state of mind, so much so that she stopped her attempt to wrench herself free and listened to him "I don't understand why you're doing this anymore, it makes no sense..."

She sighed and lowered her gaze and he took it as a sign that she wasn't going to bolt into the ocean so let her hand go and she still stood there, swaying on her feet slightly. She looked up at him her eyes shining with the new batch of tears and gulped as she tried to form the words to frame her response.

"Katherine told me..." was all she mumbled in a croaky voice and he blinked in surprise and cut her short

"From Elena to Katherine... you're fishing for reasons Barbie" he accused aggressively and she stomped her foot and shot him a glare

"Katherine told me once that self-preservation is the only way for us to survive, I'm thinking of myself Damon, for the first time" she finished and he still looked confounded "Pain, hurt, disappointment is a normal thing, you can't have a life without it... and there was a time when I was brave in the face of all those things, but that was when I was mortal" she added in a low whisper and he furrowed his brow contemplating where this could lead to

"When Stefan rejected me I was so distraught and..." this was not where he thought it would lead to

"Wait are you now telling me that you want Stefan?" he asked in a half-confused half-worried voice

"Will you just listen to me without giving your comments?" she snipped angrily and he sighed and nodded slowly, at least she hadn't said yes to that.

"When Stefan rejected me it was terrible, I was hurt, had no self-esteem which is why I went to you so easily" she continued and he shifted uncomfortably at the fact that the only reason she had come to him, or allowed him to come _at_ her was because of Stefan. "It hurt for a while, but then I got over it, got over Stefan's rejection, you know why? Because I told myself life is short don't waste it wallowing over one stupid guy" she added and he gulped as he saw the inklings of where this was going

"But when it happened with you Damon, when you broke my heart and my confidence... I couldn't tell myself that, because no matter how hard I try a part of me will always live with that pain I felt in that moment" she said boldly "A part of me will always be that broken, devastated girl, and that I can't push that pain away you know why?... coz I will live forever"

Damon took a deep breath and looked down at his feet feeling that wave of guilt drown him.

"Everyone has heartbreak, but when you live for eternity it's that much harder. And I've had enough heartbreak from you Damon... If I go down that road again and break _again_, I won't make it. I can't live with that pain for eternity"

"You're assuming that I'll hurt you again" he said sadly and when she didn't say anything but merely chewed on her lip nervously he added forcefully "I promise I won't hurt you again Caroline"

She laughed softly and it was clear that she was contemplating whether to say the next words or not. She decided to go for the jugular this time; Damon had a right to know why she was so hell bent upon on not giving in to him again for the umpteenth time... so he would get an honest answer today, even if it hurt him, even if it hurt her... which it would coz anything that hurt him hurt her.

"As much as I love you Damon..." she began slowly but he cut her off instantly grabbing her arm and bringing her closer

"Why does there have to be anything after that, why can't we just go with that Caroline...?" he begged and she shook her head and ploughed on

"As much as I might love you Damon and as much as I might want you Damon but..." she waved her hand towards the spot by the fire where moments ago they had been writhing in ecstasy, Damon shifted as his cock twitched in memory of said event. She smiled a little shyly at that before delivering the last blow... the bite to the jugular

"I don't trust you Damon"

There was long tense silence as Damon took in what her words meant and implied... she didn't trust him, she didn't trust that he wouldn't walk out on her again, that he wouldn't break her again.

"You don't trust me?" he asked dazedly after a while and her brow furrowed as she saw how much her words had hurt him, but that was the truth. The break in his voice was further proof of his hurt

"No Damon... and can you blame me?" she asked in a small voice looking anywhere but his burning eyes.

His head bobbed on his neck like funny cartoon and he gurgled a little as he considered her question. No he could not blame her; a lot of people had fucked over this girl in her life, but no one like him. Despite what he had done to her when she was human, she came back to him and was nothing but perfect and understanding and he ripped through her again... getting a sort of perverted pleasure in watched the way her eyes contracted and her heart crumbled when he damaged her. He was hurting... so terribly that he wanted to hurt someone in return, and by some cosmic fuck-up it was always her that he wounded. It was the story of his life; he could just never have what he wanted... but this time he had no one but himself to blame.

So, no he couldn't blame her for not trusting him. Even he didn't trust himself.

"I want you to trust me" he said softly and decisively advancing towards her "What can I do to make you trust me?"

She fidgeted with her fingers as she thought over his question. How do you make someone trust you? It just happens, it's a process you can't define it, you can't direct or control it. She had no clue how to answer his question.

"I don't know Damon" she said frazzled "How do you... how can you tell someone how to build trust with you?" she added pointedly and he merely nodded

She heaved a sigh of relief when it seemed that he wasn't going press at the topic nor start any new doomed topic. They sat next to each other on the sand, Damon ensuring that there was enough distance between them... he really didn't trust himself anymore, now that she had made it clear that even she didn't trust him. They talked about meaningless things, of their back story on how they got stranded on the island. Somehow despite all of Damon's sly plans Caroline still hadn't figured out that he did this on purpose. He didn't really care right now, he was sure Bonnie or at least his brother would have figured it out and he was even more certain that he had a scorching ass burning reserved for him... courtesy the judgy little witch. Caroline was already angry with him, she had gone from angry to furious and once she found out it was his sneaky little plan to get them stranded here she would probably get to murderous. But he really didn't care right now, she could be as angry as she wanted to be... nothing could be worse than the fact that she didn't trust him. Nothing.

As they sat there in part silence Damon realized something. He was different with Caroline... than he had been with every other objects of his affection. He didn't react to her rejection the way he had to every other one in his life, with blood murder and sex. No he braved through it determined to make her see his plight, to make her believe him. When she all but chose Ric over him he didn't go snap someone's neck to vent out his hurt, when Bonnie refused believe a word of his and even put herself firmly on 'Team Ric' he didn't even want to hurt her, instead it made him feel better to know that the witch would always... _always_ be there to look out for his Barbie. Even when Stefan asked him to leave Caroline to herself, he didn't feel betrayed, his brother was only thinking of Caroline's best interests... which was perfectly okay with Damon. And that's when it hit him. All the talk about Elena making him want to be a better man... it had been just that, just talks that never converted into actions. He just claimed that she made him want to be better... but Caroline, she had already made him better in the span of 3 days. And that too when she was royally pissed at him half the time, he couldn't even imagine how much better he could be when she actually happy with him. Unknowingly Caroline had made him into the person he had always wanted to be.

That's when he made a decision as he realized the subconscious changes that had already happened in his life ever since he had made it clear that he wanted her forgiveness... that he wanted her back. Stefan was more of a brother to him than he had been in ages, all because Stefan could see the sincerity and inner goodness that Caroline bought out in him. He was actually getting along with Bonnie. There was still Ric though; his once upon friend... but then again he wanted Caroline and Ric was currently banging her, it would be weird if he still liked Ric. Yes he decided, Ric could be taken as an exception. So Damon made a decision that he swore to himself that he would stand by no matter what.

When the sky had turned from a dark black to a bluish tint they could see the coast guard making its way to the island. Caroline sighed in relief and turned to give Damon a sad smile and he was astonished that she hadn't asked him to not tell any of what happened to Ric. She got up and brushed off her dress and he had never seen her more beautiful, the blue haze in the sky was making her skin look positively glowy and she still didn't look at him with hate... if he looked deep enough into her blue orbs he could always see the love in there. Just as the people from the boat were climbing onto the beach he cleared his throat to get her to turn back to look at him.

"I'll find a way" he croaked and she looked puzzled "To make you trust me... I'll find a way" he added confidently and watched as her brows furrowed, her eyes softened and she looked like she was going to cry but couldn't reply as the coast guards came screaming at them.

The boat ride back was slow torture. Even though Damon tried to hide it, he was anticipating how badly it would sting when Bonnie skinned him alive, but to Damon it would be worth it. Caroline was worried about how Ric was going to react, and even though she wouldn't show it she was worried that Bonnie was going to burn Damon to a crisp. But a part of her just wanted to get back already, she was lost and confused and so tired and only Ric could make her feel better when she was like this. She was also worried about another thing, she could see how her words had affected Damon and it hurt her to see that look on his face. But she thought she was doing the right thing by telling him how she truly felt.

She wanted Ric, she wanted Stefan, she wanted Bonnie. She wanted to get away from Damon... because the way he was looking right now heartbroken and lost and the words he had said to her as they left made her want to pull him into a big hug and hold him till he was happy again.

But that was just as bad as giving in or opening her mouth.

When they got back to the jetty Ric Bonnie and Stefan were all waiting for them. Caroline had started crying just as she saw them from a distance; Damon couldn't control his eye-roll. Like Bonnie needed more reasons to burn him. Bonnie looked livid her eyes practically burning a hole through his thick head, Stefan was standing by her side one hand around her waist no doubt restraining her from flying off towards them. Stefan looked at Damon apologetically whereas Ric only had eyes for Caroline, with a flinch Damon noticed it was the same for her... she was only looking at him, like she couldn't wait another second to get to him. When they made port she stumbled straight into Ric's arms while Stefan glazed his eyes over her inspecting her for any injuries. Bonnie though puffed her chest crossing her arms over them and glared daggers at him while taping her foot like a countdown. Damon gulped suddenly thankful for the three coast guards or he would have been on his knees screaming the lord's name.

After throwing a death glare Damon's way Ric dragged Caroline towards the hotel. Stefan raised a finger and dragged it across his neck tilting his head towards Bonnie and before he knew it he was being pulled by the witch into a small abandoned room in the jetty, if she didn't look so murderous he might have made some lewd comment about her trying to get him alone and all that. But she looked positively homicidal right now so he bit his tongue as she lectured him for half hour about all the things that could have gone disastrously in his plan and for a second he thought she wasn't going to aneurism him then suddenly her expression changed to an apologetic one and she blasted him like a firework on the 4th of July.

After his much deserved brain frying session Damon found himself sitting next to Stefan in the island bar at the hotel.

"Stef..." Damon began wrinkling his nose as Stefan sat down next to him "You reek of witchy"

Stefan rolled his eyes and snorted "Yeah, Bonnie gets a little... uh...touchy when she's a combination of pissed and worried"

Damon laughed heartily and looked around to make sure the woman in question wasn't around anywhere before he launched into his lengthy questionnaire

"I've always wanted to know how judgy is in the sack?" Damon wiggled his eyebrows and Stefan shook his head in disbelief

"Moving on..."

"Oh come on... Stef, you gotta give me something" Damon said turning to face him clasping his hands together and Stefan laughed at his expression

"Ok fine you want something" Stefan surrendered an evil smirk forming on his lips "She uses magic" he added and Damon blinked

"Magic... actual magic?"

"Yes"

"As in... during?" Damon asked wide-eyed and Stefan nodded taking a sip from his drink

"Holy mother of god..." Damon commented his eyes glazed over.

"Now your turn to spill" Stefan said seriously "What happened?"

"Why aren't you angry at me?" Damon asked suddenly. He had been thinking that for a long time

"I think Bonnie punished you enough for both of us..." Stefan shrugged

"God... you're already talking like a couple" Damon snipped

"Did you get through to Care?" Stefan asked and Damon looked shocked

"Stefan... you're talking like you _want_ me to get through to her?"

"No Damon I _want_ Caroline to be happy" Stefan corrected "That's all I want for her, and if it was with Ric then I would support him... but I know Caroline better than anyone, even you. She's only happy _truly_ happy when she was with you, even when you were a jerk to her" Stefan added darkly "I can't imagine how happy she would be if you were actually nice"

Damon blinked rapidly as he took all of that in. He couldn't believe his brother... Stefan was saying these things to him.

"I thought you were team Ric too..." Damon pointed out thoroughly baffled

"No this isn't a competition Damon... let's face it all of us here, me you Ric and Bonnie we're all Team Care. We just want what's best for her. Now I know what's going to make her the happiest is you, Bon knows it too but she refuses to accept it"

"So you _want_ me to be with Caroline?" Damon asked for confirmation and Stefan sighed angrily

"Yes" he said exasperatedly "Who do you think stopped Bonnie from killing the captain and turning around the ship to go get to you guys huh? Me" he added pointing a proud finger at himself and Damon blinked getting a little emotional

"Why Stefan... when I came here" Damon began

"When you came here you were still that jerk who was stringing her along Damon" Stefan asserted "And then I observed you for three days, I'm your brother I know you. After your talk with her I was sure you would kill someone if not Ric but you didn't... you persevered Damon. You stuck to showing her what you mean. You've never been like that, not even with Elena... that's when I knew that you had finally changed, without even realizing it"

Damon gulped and smiled at Stefan as he realized just how well his brother knew him. This is what Damon had missed out on for decades, a relationship with his brother, and unintentionally it was Caroline who was giving it to him, just like she had given him so many other things.

"I realized the same thing today too" Damon said softly and Stefan chuckled "I realized that I always wanted to change but I never actually did anything... just blabbed about it"

"When you have to force yourself to change Damon it's not for the right reasons... Elena was forcing you to be different to suit what _she_ wanted from you, and obviously you never did that, who would?" Stefan said somberly "But with Care, you just changed... involuntarily. You know why? Because it was right, because it made _you_ better and happier not because it was what she wanted. She loved you flaws and all" Stefan ended wisely and watched as every imaginable expression of shock flooded his brother's face.

"When did my baby brother grow up so much?" Damon asked incredulously and Stefan snorted

"I always have been, and always will be wiser than you Damon. Deal with it" Stefan said pompously

"I will only say this once, so listen carefully" Damon said gravely "Witchy suits you, You have my blessing, repeat these words and I'll stake you" he added dangerously and Stefan mock saluted him with a cocky grin on his face, it was obvious he liked Bonnie too.

"Care suits you too... and as her best friend and boyfriend beater-up you have my blessing too, aaaand you know how much my opinion means to her. So you better me extra nice to me... and buy me something shiny" Stefan chided and Damon snorted in his drink. He hated to admit it, but it was true Caroline would do just about anything that Stefan told her to, that girl trusted him with her life. But she had none in Damon, and that still pinched but he was hell bent on changing that.

"Boyfriend beater-up?" Damon repeated laughing "Who did you beat up?"

"Matt, Tyler... that weird British guy she dated and Joshua, pretty much all of them except you" Stefan sighed almost smiling at the memories

Damon shook his head as he recounted all Barbie's romantic disasters "I missed this Stef" he said softly looking off into the distance

"What?" Stefan asked confused

"Being brothers... like when we were in human" Damon said looking into his brother's green eyes that reflected the same feelings.

"We should never have let girls come in between us" Stefan added and Damon nodded in agreement

"So... you promise not to fall for Barbie?" Damon asked skeptically and Stefan's face convulsed in mild discomfort

"She's like my sister Damon, that's disgusting" Stefan commented and Damon practically sighed in relief "And you won't go for Bon right?" Stefan asked devilishly, Damon cringed instantly

"A week and you'll be calling her Bon-Bon. And hell no, brunettes have lost the charm for me" Damon smirked

The two brothers' shook on it like the good old days and laughed simultaneously.

Damon smiled widely as he ordered another round for him and his brother. It had been a treacherous journey but after many trying and testing years he had his baby brother back.


	7. Important AN

**I have to be honest with you guys, Daroline and Steroline were my first otp in tvd – and midway season 1 I was an out and out Daroline shipper. I loved writing stories for them as well as the Stefan/Caroline/Damon triangle, but once Klaus walked in in 2x19 I was gone for, I swear I had no control over what happened. I still wrote a little Daroline after 2x19 and beginning of season 3, but 3x02 sealed it for me – Klaroline went from a crackship to my obsession. **

**I'm very sorry to have to say this, but I honestly cannot write Daroline anymore; drabbles and small things of them I have and I will continue to write (on request) but I have to admit now that I won't be continuing any of my Daroline stories and that's why I've decided to put up these A/N's in my fics. **

**I did this because it was time I stop ignoring the WIP's in my page and also many of the stories have been read and reviewed and people asked for more, I wish I could give you more – but honestly Klaroline just ruined me. And I'm a crackshipper at heart, Daroline was and in a way still is a crackship, so as of now my writing inspiration somehow always finds me in the vicinity of Klaroline, carlijah, steroline or klarolijah. I'm very sorry for this, but I hope you all understand! **

**I hope those of you who like Klaroline read my Klaroline stories! All I can say is I'm sorry for giving up on these fics but I just have lost all inspiration for Daroline! **


End file.
